NASA is investigate an intriguing new method to power next space missions , which may help oneself humans live on the control surface of Mars .
As reported by Irene Klotz over atSpace.com , the $ 15 million project is known asKilopower . From September of this twelvemonth until January 2018 , they ’re start to start test the system . Nuclear fission is used in nuclear power plants around the worldly concern , but getting it to work on a smaller scale is a mo more challenging .
Most of NASA ’s deep place military mission have relied on plutonium - based radioisotope power systems ( RPS ) . These have set aside space vehicle to research the outer planet ( Cassini , Galileo ) , and even escape the Solar System totally ( Voyager ) .
But plutonium-238 , the specific isotope used in these missions , is expensive to raise and increasingly scarce . That ’s despite NASA recentlyrestarting productionof it , having swear upon Russian backlog for years .
So NASA has been seek option . And it appears that smallfission power systems(FPS ) may be suitable not only for unmanned foreign mission , but also as the baron organization for next bases or colony on Mars .
It lick by splitting the karyon of atomic number 92 atom in a reactor . This bring forth heating plant , which would be converted into electric office . In particularly abrasive environment , such as the surface of Mars , this could be unbelievably utilitarian in sire power .
NASA is currently getting a test nuclear reactor quick , which measures about 1.9 meters ( 6.5 feet ) tall . It ’s designed to get up to a kilowatt of power using nuclear fission . Eventual system may bring forth up to 40 kW combined , which is the equivalent weight of abouteight houses on Earth .
This will be the first NASA test of a fission nuclear reactor for infinite since the 1960s . That was a program called the Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power ( SNAP ) , which finally led to the development of RTGs .
If the test is successful , NASA would look into building fully fledged Federal Protective Service . Four or five of these could establish on a human mission to Mars , each capable of 10 kilowatts , to supply necessary power . They would be switched off at launching , and only fired up when the astronauts strain their name and address .
" If you want to bring anywhere , surface fission power is a key strategy for that , " said Michelle Rucker , from NASA ’s Johnson Space Center in Houston , reported Klotz .
( H / T : Space.com )
