Trump Revives

[guohua]

Here is another plan I am in agreement with.

NASA Revives Plan to Put Nuclear Reactors on Mars

I think that'll solve a lot of problems with heating and supplying power.

As NASA makes plans to one day send humans to Mars, one of the key technical gaps the agency is working to fill is how to provide enough power on the Red Planet’s surface for fuel production, habitats, and other equipment.

One option: small nuclear fission reactors, which work by splitting uranium atoms to generate heat, which is then converted into electric power.


NASA’s technology development branch has been funding a project called Kilopower for three years, with the aim of demonstrating the system at the Nevada National Security Site near Las Vegas. Testing is due to start in September and end in January 2018.

The last time NASA tested a fission reactor was during the 1960s' Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power, or SNAP, program, which developed two types of nuclear power systems. The first system — radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs — taps heat released from the natural decay of a radioactive element, such as plutonium.
RTGs have powered dozens of space probes over the years, including the Curiosity rover currently exploring Mars.
Source