Posted on 03/20/2023 8:15:00 AM PDT by Twotone
The UK Space Agency is backing a plan by British car and engine manufacturing firm Rolls-Royce to build a nuclear reactor for the Moon.
The program will receive funds to the sum of £2.9 million from the UK Space Agency, a major increase from the £249,000 study funded by the agency in 2022.
It is hoped that Rolls-Royce will have the reactor ready to send to the Moon by 2029.
The idea to make a nuclear power source for the Moon is far from outlandish.
Nations all over the world, spearheaded by NASA's Artemis missions, seek to return humanity to the Moon for a more prolonged stay than the few brief visits during the Apollo missions in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The first steps for this have already been taken, with NASA's Artemis I Mission having successfully returned from a trip around the Moon and the Artemis III Mission set to put human boots on the lunar surface for the first time in decades.
This is only the start of what is hoped to be a more long-term human presence on the Moon, which would include humans living and working on the lunar surface. This has the potential to vastly transform human progress, with space having been referred to by some as the "ultimate laboratory."
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
“the Artemis III Mission set to put human boots on the lunar surface for the first time in decades.”
That was supposed to happen in 2020, then 2021, then 2024, now 2025.....
They are not “set” to do anything—except to keep pushing the date further and further into the future and hoping nobody notices.
Pebble bed reactor would be ideal; small, lightweight and portable...............
Rolls-Royce?! Why can’t Pratt and Whitney do it?
OK first off “The UK Space Agency”?......I never heard of such. 🤔
That’s gonna require one long cable.
Just what we need; someone messing with the moon and screwing up its orbit. Who needs tides anyway?
What could possibly go wrong?
Yes. Small safe sane nuclear power WILL win out over solar and battery power, and not just for off-planet locations, but it will win out over fossil fuels in long distance space travel. Just look at the global safety record of the world’s nclear powered submarines. I predict in the next ten years nuclear power will enter the commercial ocean shipping field as well.
When the Spanish crown first sent out exploration ships, none of them went to the North Pole. There was nothing there of value. So any such expedition would be a waste of money.
I struggle to see how the Moon is any different.
It’s funny: If there is anywhere solar ought to work, it is a body with no atmosphere. They could even place solar panels at points near the lunar north pole that receive sunlight 80-100% of the lunar year.
Maybe we can send all the environuts to the site to protest.
Unless there is gold or other precious metal up there, it is silly to waste money sending bogus researchers up to the moon to "colonize it".
Note to people: There is nothing up in space that we can reach and observe except by telescopes, etc.We can not afford this bullsh1t right now. It is silly.
Distances beyond Mars are way too far to be practically reached, in spite of the fact that Star Trek and other wanker fantasy shows feature it.
We need to focus on life down here, mainly by restoring the rule of law and the value of learning.
"Following the science" has nearly gotten us extinct in the past few years.
On the other hand, if they could build huge shuttles that we could pack with thousands of commies, rats, progs, antifa, satanists, etc., and fire them into the sun, well, that would be worth looking into.
this is so wrong, they should use clean energy from windmills on the moon instead!
No flames—I am going to lol when your post becomes the official position of .gov in a decade or so when they realize that they just can’t get it done...
We are devolving—despite the “happy talk” coming from PR flaks.
The moon idea meets JP Morgan’s red-line criterion: they’ll be able to put a meter on it.
If Earth’s ample energy were used (according to Tesla’s model), it would be too difficult for the world’s oligarchs to keep everyone and his brother from having nearly free energy. That’s the same reason Morgan saw to the end of Tesla’s experiments at Wardenclyffe Tower on Long Island until 1902.
Something based on Pu238 is the only thing that would work.
You need something that can work reliably for decades and not need re-fueling, cooling or spare parts.
awesome- let’s build strip malls and carnival rides there too- maybe some popeye’s chicken shops too- you know- for the convenience of those who fly there to collect the energy to bring back to errf-
I have a bad feeling about this . . . .
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