Nuclear power on the moon: Russia and China announce plans to develop a “non-human” nuclear reactor by 2035 to provide power for bases that the two countries will also jointly develop.
Nuclear reactor – In 2021, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced plans to work with the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) to build a lunar base. It would be called the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), which they designated at the time as a base. “It will be open to anyone interested.”
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However, NASA astronauts will likely not be allowed to join the base. Because of the relationship between the three countries, the United States announced that it would separate from Roscosmos and the Chinese National Space Agency, which will launch its astronauts from the International Space Station by 2025.
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It is possible that for these reasons this was done on March 5. Roscosmos officially announced that it will build the “nuclear reactor.” In cooperation with Chinese authorities, the machine will be built and operated. “Without human intervention” and is scheduled to be completed by 2035.
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“Today, we are seriously studying the project in the 2033-2035 transition period for the delivery and installation of power modules on the lunar surface with our Chinese colleagues,” said Yuri Borisov, Director General of Roscosmos.
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“Without human involvement,” the construction will be fully automated. And the technological solutions required in those operations. “It is almost ready,” Borisov said, adding that the structure and other information about the size of the reactor had not yet been revealed. Or what does it look like?
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Borisov continued: Solar panels will not be enough to supply human settlements with energy in the future. But nuclear energy will definitely solve this problem. So they focused on the reactor. CNN itself reported that President Vladimir Putin himself told government officials last week that nuclear energy in space would be supported as fully as financially possible.
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“It seems that we are all aware of the fact that we have such capabilities that other countries do not have. We need to pay them (Roscosmos) special attention so that they develop and can be used in the future,” Putin said.
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Nuclear energy has become a reliable source of energy in space. It has been talked about as being essential to the operation of the lunar base. In September last year, scientists in the UK also revealed plans to build a small reactor that would use fuel the size of a small grain, and NASA plans to test the device in the future as well.
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These plans seem to herald the resumption of the Space Race since the Cold War, which ended with the victory of Apollo. It has been more than 50 years since any human set foot on the moon. But now many countries are working hard to get back to that point.
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Last year, Russia itself launched the Luna-25 spacecraft. She went into space but ended in failure. China has sent sensors to the moon since 2013 on several successful missions. This has enabled China to become one of the world leaders in space.
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Just as India succeeded in landing a spacecraft on the moon. For its part, NASA or the United States is targeting the Artemis mission, which focuses on successfully returning humans to the moon. However, this plan has been postponed until at least 2026.
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It seems like every country is joining the train that is truly heading towards the Space Age. In the end, which country successfully followed the plan? Maybe only time will tell.
Researched and edited by Witit Borompichaichartkul
Origin
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https://www.iflscience.com/russia-and-china-are-planning-on-building-a-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon-73371
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https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/russia-china-are-considering-putting-nuclear-power-unit-moon-ria-2024-03-05/
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https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/14/europe/putin-russia-nuclear-power-unit-space/index.html
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https://www.space.com/russia-china-shared-nuclear-reactor-2035-moon
