Nuclear reactors supply electricity to Martian settlers

Nuclear power is considered by NASA to be the best solution to power the first people to settle on Mars.

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has installed many fission nuclear reactors nearly 2m high in a $ 14 million project to test the power supply for the Mars, Mirror day plan. 3/7 reported.

Nuclear reactors on Mars.(Graphics: NASA).

The first inhabitants of Mars needed electricity to create oxygen, water, light, temperature and supplies for scientific vehicles and equipment. Each reactor separates two uranium atoms to produce 10kW of electricity, enough for two people. In the 2008 study, NASA estimated an 8-person expedition needed 40kW of electricity.

This is not the first time NASA has tested nuclear reactors in space. In the 1960s, NASA developed a radioactive isotope electric generator (RTG) in the SNAP program. The Curiosity autonomous device exploring Mars also uses an RTG to generate energy.

Successful installation of electricity will be an important step in the ambition to bring people to Mars. The distance between Mars and the Sun and dust storms on the planet makes the fission reactor a solution that provides better energy than a solar battery.