Nukes on the moon?

60-Second Science vor 4 Monaten

Nuclear power could enable long-term lunar missions, but NASA’s timeline may be too ambitious

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In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman speaks with
science journalist Robin George Andrews about NASA’s push to put a
nuclear reactor on the moon. They explore why nuclear power could
be key to sustaining long-term lunar missions, what the technical
hurdles of operating a reactor in such an extreme environment are
and why experts say the agency’s ambitious timeline may be moving
too fast. Recommended Reading: Why NASA wants to build a nuclear
reactor on the moon NASA needs nuclear power for its moon base.
Here’s the White House plan to get it NASA announces
nuclear-powered Mars mission by 2028 NASA Commits to Plan to Build
a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon by 2030 E-mail us at
sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday:
subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science,
our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel
Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This
episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna
Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic
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