Rolls-Royce has received funding from the UK Space Agency to build a nuclear reactor for a power base on the moon.
The idea “may sound like setting a Movie about James Bond“, he said Sky Newsbut is “part of a very real project to see people living and working on the surface of the Moon.”
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Experts told Guardian that nuclear power could “dramatically increase the duration of lunar missions” by providing enough power for communications, life support and experiments.
Rolls-Royce plans to prepare a reactor for sending to the moon by 2029. The UK Space Agency has announced £2.9m of new funding for a project that will provide the initial demonstration of Britain’s lunar modular nuclear reactor. The cash infusion follows a £249,000 study funded by the UK Space Agency last year.
Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “This innovative Rolls-Royce research could lay the foundations for a continued human presence on the Moon, while boosting the wider UK space sector, creating jobs and generating further investment. »
Work on the lunar base comes as humans prepare to return to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. “When humanity begins to return to space,” said Gizmodo“the technology that moves us around the solar system will be a key part of that journey.”
With dozens of lunar missions set to launch over the next decade, the European Space Agency wants give the moon its own time zone and is working with other space agencies, including NASA, in a “collaborative international effort” to determine what a lunar time zone might look like, said Axios.
On the other side of the Atlantic, NASA recently announced funding for a nuclear-powered rocket that could “cut the journey time to Mars from seven months to just 45 days.” Independent informed.
https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/science-health/960088/rolls-royce-gets-ps29m-for-james-bond-moon-project
