New nuclear fission power system on the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASA official website
According to NASA's official website on the 2nd, NASA and the US Department of Energy's National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) have successfully demonstrated a new nuclear reactor power system that can travel to the Moon, Mars, and more distant deep airspace. Manned missions provide power.
NASA held a press conference on the 2nd local time to announce the test results of the demonstration project named 'The Thousand Power Reactors Using Stirling Technology' (KRUSTY). From November 2017 to March this year, the project has been at NNSA. The Nevada National Security Zone was tested. David Burnston, chief reactor designer at NNSA Los Alamos National Laboratory, said that the test has two purposes: to prove that the system can use fission energy to generate electricity; the display system is in any environment Can maintain stability and security.
The Thousand Power Reactor is a compact and lightweight nuclear fission system that can provide up to 10 kilowatts of electricity. Four thousand power units can provide enough power to build an outpost. Project engineer Mark Gibson said that the system is very suitable for the moon. Used on the moon, because it is very difficult to use solar power to generate electricity on the moon.
Thousands of power prototype systems use a uranium-235 reactor core, the size of which is equivalent to a roll of paper towels. The passive sodium heat pipe transfers the heat generated by the reactor to a highly efficient Stirling engine and converts the heat into electricity. The researchers finally conducted 28 hours of full power. Tests, including starting the reactor, climbing to full power, operating stably, shutting down the reactor, etc. Moreover, throughout the testing process, the team simulated power reduction, engine failure and heat pipe failure, etc., indicating that the system can continue to run and successfully handle many Failures.
Jimmy Rut, head of agency of the NASA Space Technology Mission Council (STMD), said: 'Safe, efficient and sufficient energy will be the key to robot and human exploration in the future. I think that as the KRUSTY project continues to improve, it can become the moon. An important part of Mars Power Architecture. '
