NASA plan to land ‘nukes on the Moon’ to power colony could blow up in our faces

Posted on : July 11, 2022

NASA wants to build mini nuclear reactors for use on the Moon, in the hope of generating energy for a permanent lunar colony.

The US space agency, which hopes to return humans to the lunar surface by 2025, says it views nuclear energy as the best option for powering infrastructure on the Moon.

For this reason, NASA has spent the last 15 years developing something called KRUSTY, a nuclear reactor roughly the size of a rocket that packs enough punch to power multiple households.

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The reactor uses nuclear fuel to generate energy which would be vital to powering Moon rovers, labs, housing and other scientific equipment.

However, safely landing nuclear materials on the Moon could be a challenge. NASA is still yet to establish whether the reactors can stand up to the pressures of spaceflight and if there could be any accidents in transit.

Luckily, sending the nuclear fuel to the Moon from Earth should be relatively safe, as the fuel in question has low levels of radiation.

That means that even if a rocket exploded while leaving Earth's atmosphere, it would be very unlikely to cause a significant nuclear explosion.

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NASA says that if the nuclear reactors are a success on the Moon, they'll be sent to Mars as well to help power a Martian settlement.

Elon Musk is just one of several people spearheading a movement to settle Mars with a 'permanent' human colony.

Just last week, he tweeted that "Humanity will reach Mars in your lifetime" and that "without a common goal, humanity will fight itself."

Concept sketches of a Mars colony by SpaceX looks a bit like a giant bagel, with humans living inside an armour wall protecting them from sandstorms and radiation.

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