NASA wants to put a nuclear power plant on the moon by 2030 — and you can help

[Michie]

The reactor will help sustain future missions on the moon, Mars and beyond, according to NASA.

Do you or a friend know how to build a uranium-powered nuclear reactor that can fit inside a 12-foot-long by 18-foot-wide (4 by 6 meters) rocket? Can you get the job done by the end of the decade? If so, then NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy would like to hear from you!


According to a statement(opens in new tab) from the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on Nov. 19, the lab is teaming up with NASA to put a "durable, high-power, sun-independent" fission reactor onto the moon within the next 10 years. The two agencies are currently seeking proposals from outside partners to get this lofty project started, with a submission deadline of Feb. 19, 2022.

This hypothetical reactor would help turn the moon into an extraterrestrial base for human space exploration, including future manned missions to Mars, agency officials said.

Continued below.
NASA wants to put a nuclear power plant on the moon by 2030 — and you can help

 

[rturner76]

The future is at hand! Soon we will be exploring the stars. A moon base is critical for efficient space exploration. Now getting all of the materials to the moon that will be needed will take tons of money but once a moon base is established, who knows what materials we can min from Mars and even other planets (that don't have a sulfuric acid atmosphere).

 

[Michie]

The future is at hand! Soon we will be exploring the stars. A moon base is critical for efficient space exploration. Now getting all of the materials to the moon that will be needed will take tons of money but once a moon base is established, who knows what materials we can min from Mars and even other planets (that don't have a sulfuric acid atmosphere).

Your honey-do list today requests that you get on that uranium nuclear reactor today. No dilly dallying! Chop! Chop!

 

[rturner76]

Your honey-do list today requests that you get on that uranium nuclear reactor today. No dilly dallying! Chop! Chop!

Let's do it!

 

[Michie]

Let's do it!

I’ll get the hammer...