Russia says it is considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon with China | Reuters
MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Russia and China are considering putting a nuclear power plant on the moon from 2033-35, Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday, something he said could one day allow lunar settlements to be built.
Borisov, a former deputy defence minister, said that Russia and China had been jointly working on a lunar programme and that Moscow was able to contribute with its expertise on “nuclear space energy”.
“Today we are seriously considering a project - somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 - to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,” Borisov said.
Solar panels would not be able to provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements, he said, while nuclear power could.
“This is a very serious challenge…it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans,” he said of the possible plan. …
But won’t power plants on the Moon cause … Lunar Warming! Alert Algore, ASAP!
To be more serious, back in those distant days when the US was the “Can Do” nation, the US was able to go from a cold start to a Man on the Moon within a decade. With today’s technology and the combined industrial might of Russia & China, a decade to putting a nuclear power plant on the Moon may not be beyond the limits of the possible. It is just a pity that the West has made itself a bystander.