We've seen this movie, it doesn't end well.
Posted on 11/20/2021 7:57:38 AM PST by BenLurkin
Submitted plans for the fission surface power system should include a uranium-fueled reactor core, a system to convert the nuclear power into usable energy, a thermal management system to keep the reactor cool, and a distribution system providing no less than 40 kilowatts of continuous electric power for 10 years in the lunar environment.
Some other requirements include that it be capable of turning itself off and on without human help, that it be able to operate from the deck of a lunar lander, and that it can be removed from the lander and run on a mobile system and be transported to a different lunar site for operation.
Additionally, when launched from Earth to the moon, it should fit inside a 12-foot (4-meter) diameter cylinder that's 18 feet (6 meters) long. It should not weigh more than 13,200 pounds (6,000 kilograms).
The proposal requests are for an initial system design and must be submitted by Feb. 19.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Then NASA needs to let him do it on his dime, no government subsidies at all.
Want to bet it must be Diverse ,LOL
Almost all explorers have been financed by governments. Columbus, Magellan, Lewis and Clark, Chuck Yeager.
Individuals and small companies cannot afford to explore the unknown with the possibility of no payoff. That is why government pay for exploration.
We can’t learn to explore deep space without learning how to live in near space. Gotta have power.
beat me to it!
I’m surprised it wasn’t posted sooner...
yungins....what do they know! LOL!
We've seen this movie, it doesn't end well.
Amen to that. This proposal is yet another bread and circuses boondoggle. We are in a world of hurt already. Let's fix things here.
Spending more money to "fix" things here would be the bigger boondoggle.
I would rather sunset the vast majority of federal "social" programs, and spend more money on increasing the ability of humans to operate in space.
The biggest expense would be wiring to the grid. ;-D
Bkmk
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