China and NASA are currently taking the space race exceptionally well to return to the moon and significantly impact Earth's nearest neighbor.
According to Science Times, NASA and the US Department of Energy have issued a request for proposals for a nuclear power plant that may be built on the moon. Meanwhile, Interesting Engineering said China had created a concept for its own lunar-based nuclear reactor.
NASA Adds More Nuclear Power Projects
The Hill said NASA now wants nuclear power for spacecraft, particularly those destined for Mars and beyond. The space agency has studied nuclear rockets since the 1960s' Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications (NERVA) program.
When it became evident that NASA would not be sending humans to Mars any time soon, NERVA came to an end. Nuclear rockets, which employ a nuclear reactor to superheat exhaust from the rear of a spaceship, have resurfaced again that Mars is back on the table.
A nuclear thermal rocket might transport personnel and supplies to Mars far faster than a spaceship powered by conventional rocket engines. As a result, astronauts en route to Mars will spend less time in the radiation-heavy environment of deep space.
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Nuclear power is seeing a resurgence in space operations, and the technology is getting a second look on the ground. After the high-profile incidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, nuclear power has earned a poor rap. According to more enlightened environmentalists, nuclear power should be part of a solution that moves human society away from its reliance on fossil fuels.
CNBC said Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is helping to fund a nuclear power facility in Wyoming that will be operational by 2028. The reactor will be cooled using liquid sodium rather than water at the nuclear power station. The technique lowers the chances of a meltdown or explosion. It also generates fewer nuclear wastes.
China's Nuclear Space Tech 'Better' Than NASA's?
Reports said China's new nuclear reactor is more efficient than what NASA is working on. According to experts, the Asian country's atomic-based space invention has 100 times the power of the United States.
"Nuclear power is the most hopeful solution. Other nations have launched some ambitious plans. China cannot afford the cost of losing this race," The Independent said.
Here's What Anti-Nuclear Activists Claim
Will environmentalist resistance grow in space, as it has on Earth, to stifle the development of nuclear systems? Anti-nuclear activists have opposed rocket launches containing fissile material, such as the Cassini space probe, which launched in 1997 carrying 72 pounds of plutonium 238 to power its journey to Saturn. Similar protests are very certain to occur if a nuclear reactor and its fuel are sent to the moon.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists claims that nuclear power reactors deployed in orbit, whether on a moon colony or on a spaceship voyaging to Mars, would pose no threat to humanity on Earth. Nuclear power will be debated in space, just as it is on Earth, and it will need to be addressed.
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