Russia and China announce plan to put a nuclear reactor on the moon
RUSSIA and China plan to put a nuclear reactor on the moon within ten years.
Like space race Yuri Borisov, head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, said the two countries hope to install the unit by 2035.
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“We are seriously considering a project to go to the moon together with our Chinese partners sometime between 2033 and 2035 and install a nuclear reactor there,” he said. Bag.
The robot-built power plant will be part of China Russia‘s plan to build the International Lunar Research Station – a sprawling space base that will break ground in 2026.
The moon base, which is larger than Disneyland, will have a 6 km radius with a command center, power plant, communications center, scientific facilities and a fleet of robots.
It will even have its own satellites for remote sensing, navigation and communications.
Russia and China unveiled the plan to build the scientific station – widely seen as a rival to the US-led Artemis program – in 2021.
China hopes to start building a base within the country next one and establish a base station based on lunar soil by 2028.
Under the project, China plans to send three missions: Chang’e 6, Chang’e 7 and Chang’e 8.
The base is expected to be fully operational for lunar research by 2050 – and possibly as a launch pad for manned missions.
The space cooperation marks a deepening of ties between China and Russia in the field of space exploration.
China also plans to install chilling all-seeing surveillance on the moon to spy on its citizens and protect the moon base.
Skynet’s security cameras are said to be equipped with AI-powered chips that can detect and target ‘suspicious targets’.
Skynet is the world’s largest surveillance network – with more than 600 million cameras currently used to monitor every inch of China.
AI-powered chips in the cameras will be “capable of independently identifying, locating, tracking and targeting suspicious targets.”
If “abnormalities” are detected, the system will “immediately generate alarm signals and initiate appropriate response measures.”
Decision makers claim that certain areas within the station may require continuous 360-degree surveillance.
It comes after NASA revealed its own statement plans to power a lunar power station on the moon future missions.
The mission is known as the Fission Surface Power Project and is one of the biggest targets for NASA’s upcoming Artemis program.
This project could be crucial in supporting human settlements on the lunar surface.
And it could also enable the exploration of deeper space destinations in the future.
NASA just completed the first phase of the project, which began in 2022.
The phase included signing three $5 million contracts with commercial partners to develop fission reactor designs.
The designs had to include the reactor, power conversion, heat rejection, energy management and distribution systems.
NASA could use nuclear reactors to generate light and power in the permanently shadowed parts of the moon.
They could also use them to get through lunar nights – one lunar night is the equivalent of 14 nights on Earth.
In December last year, British firm Rolls-Royce also unveiled a mock-up for a nuclear reactor that could power an outpost on the moon.
The UK Space Agency awarded Rolls-Royce £2.9 million to fund the development of the lunar technology.
It is not yet capable of producing electricity and it will take another six years before it prepares for its first trip into space.
The company already makes reactors for submarines and is developing a factory-built power plant for small towns.
It’s all part of massive plans to set up a permanent base for humans on the moon.
NASA hopes to set foot on the moon again in 2025, more than fifty years after the last mission.
How does a nuclear reactor work?
It is useful to think of a nuclear reactor as a large boiler. It heats water to produce massive amounts of low-carbon electricity.
The nuclear reactor creates energy by splitting atoms of uranium – a process called fission.
The energy released is used as heat to make steam and drive a turbine, which generates electricity.
Various materials can be used to fuel a nuclear reactor, but uranium is the most commonly used. Plutonium and thorium can also be used.
A 1,000 megawatt facility would contain approximately 75 tons of enriched uranium.
A typical reactor requires about 27 tons of fresh fuel annually.
Reactors also come in many different shapes and sizes.
They are very reliable in generating electricity and can operate 24 hours a day for months, if not years, without interruption.