Russia and China will build nuclear reactors on the moon, preparing to overtake NASA, what is the plan?
Nuclear Reactor Moon: Today there is a fight going on for the Moon in space. Space agencies around the world want to go to the Moon. Meanwhile, China and Russia have announced a big plan.
MOSCOW: Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced plans to work with China to build an automaton nuclear reactor on the Moon in the 2030s. This reactor will help in powering the moon base, which will be jointly operated by both the countries.
In 2021, Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) revealed that they aimed to jointly build a base on the Moon. The name of this base will be International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). At that time China claimed that it was open to all interested countries and international partners.
However, NASA astronauts are rarely allowed to visit the base due to poor historical relations with CNSA and recent tensions with Roscosmos. In fact, America imposed sanctions on Russia after the attack on Ukraine.
In response to the sanctions, the Russian Space Agency has decided to abandon the International Space Station by 2025. On Tuesday, Roscosmos announced it would partner with China to build a nuclear reactor that would power a moon base.
Russia-China will build nuclear reactors
Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov said, ‘We, together with our Chinese colleagues, are considering a plan to install a power unit on the lunar surface by 2033-2035.’ Borisov said that this challenging task could potentially
This will be done automatically without the presence of humans. The necessary technological solutions related to this are almost ready. According to Reuters report, Roscosmos is considering using large-scale nuclear powered rockets to transport cargo to the Moon to build this base.
China and Russia did not deliver humans
However, the biggest challenge facing the Russian space agency is that they do not know how to make it. Scientists believe that nuclear reactors would be necessary for a moon base, as solar panels would not be possible to generate and store enough energy.
Neither Roscosmos nor CNSA have sent humans to the surface of the Moon. Apart from this, Russia has also failed in the moon mission last year. However, China has already sent its lander and rover to the surface since 2013.
