Rolls-Royce is working on a Micro Reactor program “to develop the technology to power humans to live and work on the Moon.” “Nuclear power has the potential to significantly increase the duration and scientific value of future Moon missions,” says the UK Space Agency. UKSA will now provide £2.9 million in funding for the project.
The UK Space Agency said on Friday it would support research by Rolls-Royce. Microreactor program will develop technology to power people living and working on the Moon
The government agency said in a statement that Rolls-Royce researchers are working on a Micro Reactor program “to develop the technology that will power humans to live and work on the Moon.”
UKSA will now provide £2.9 million in funding for the project.
“All space missions depend on a power source to support systems for communications, life support and science experiments. “Nuclear power has the potential to significantly increase the duration and scientific value of future lunar missions.”
According to the Independent’s report, if the project is successful, a real reactor will be built to power the settlement that will be built by astronauts who will go to the Moon in the future.
A Rolls-Royce Micro-Reactor is designed to use an inherently safe and extremely robust fuel form. Each uranium particle is encapsulated in multiple protective layers that act as a containment system, allowing it to withstand extreme conditions.https://t.co/OOc9kBGXDx pic.twitter.com/wkXmZgzhrs
— Rolls-Royce (@RollsRoyce) January 27, 2023
WILL BE READY BY 2029
Rolls-Royce has announced that the reactor will be ready to be sent to the Moon by 2029.
“We’re getting ready to see humans set foot on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Rolls-Royce’s modular reactor will lead to new energy sources that can be used on a lunar base. It’s exciting.” “We support research that gives interest,” it said.
NASA is working on the Artemis program, which will allow astronauts to step back on the Moon in 2026. Meanwhile, not only US institutions, but also space agencies from all over the world began preparations for the Artemis mission.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy has announced that they want to build nuclear power plants on the Moon and Mars in 2020.
BACK TO THE MONTH
Dhara Patel, a space expert at the National Space Center in Leicester, England, told CNBC that humans returning to the moon will need a “reliable power source” so that astronauts can “live and work on our lunar neighbor for long-term missions.”
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