After a lull of over 50 years, the number of projects to take humans back to the Moon is escalating at a fast rate. This time, instead of one-off landing missions, these will be the first steps in building long-term Moon bases. An essential part of any Moon base will be a continuous and reliable source of power to run essential life-support systems, communications, lunar vehicles, workshops and scientific laboratories. A small nuclear reactor could meet many of these demands, and in 2022 the UK Space Agency funded a £249,000 ($310,510) study into the feasibility of designing and building one by Rolls-Royce. The agency has now provided a further £2.9 million ($3.6 million) of funding to deliver an initial demonstration of a UK lunar modular nuclear reactor. ”Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, clean technology and much more,” says Minister of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology George Freeman. “As we prepare to see humans return to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, we’re backing exciting research like this lunar modular reactor with RollsRoyce to pioneer new power sources for a lunar base. Partnerships like this between British industry, the UK Space Agency and government are helping create jobs across our space technology sector and help ensure the UK continues to be a major force in frontier science.”
This story is from the Issue 143 edition of All About Space UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 143 edition of All About Space UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
"We knew that this would be a historic comet"
Astronomer David Levy was immortalised for his co-discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – its impact with Jupiter 29 years ago held the world in awe
CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ
Innovative technology provides the simplest and quickest solution yet to finding objects to observe, and this instrument will be very popular with beginners
MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS
Get up close to the ‘Monarch of the Moon’
A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE
J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?
For years, scientists have tried to work out why Jupiter’s bands frequently move and change colour. Now they believe they’ve found the answer
MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE
Rugged terrain had kept Ingenuity from communicating with its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover
SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS
It turns out that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to a good old-fashioned practical joke
CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Alongside Earth, our planetary neighbourhood is changing. But not for the better…
TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG
Time dilation, brought about by the relativistic expansion of space, has resulted in the observed slowing of ‘clocks’ in the early universe
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?
Asteroids could provide us with rare resources