NASA is working on an energy source that could power future outposts on the moon and Mars, as well as missions to the far reaches of the solar system. To make it happen, the space agency has turned to an institution with decades of nuclear experience: Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Los Alamos' Kilopower, a small and simple nuclear fission reactor, could be the key to powering long-term missions in space. One of NASA's current primary goals is to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, and companies like Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Moon Express have expressed interest in building infrastructure on the moon to drive lunar industries such as mining for Helium-3 or manufacturing rocket fuel. To accomplish any of these goals, engineers will need establish a reliable source of power on the moon.

Kilopower nuclear reactor prototype. NASA Glenn Research Center

Lunar operations could be the first to use a Kilopower reactor, although Los Alamos says the small nuclear power source could also be used on robotic spacecraft missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, the ice giants Uranus and Neptune, or even spaceflights beyond Pluto.

The small reactor, designed to have as few moving parts as possible, uses heat-pipe technology developed by Los Alamos in 1963. A solid block of uranium-235 nuclear fuel, about the size of a paper towel roll, generates heat through nuclear fission. That heat then boils sodium, which has a boiling point above 1,600 degrees F, inside eight heat tubes.

The heat tubes transfer energy to a Stirling engine, which generates electricity from the heat. This process is different from the workings of plutonium batteries that power spacecraft such as New Horizons and Curiosity, which use heat generated by the natural decay of nuclear fuel to generate electricity. The Kilopower reactor actually splits the nuclear fuel in a fission reaction. As a result, it can generate more power by about an order of magnitude.

Even with its heat shielding and external systems, the Kilopower device is no bigger than a garbage can, and it's capable of generating power for years or even decades. The plan is to build two models of the fission reactor, one that pumps out one kilowatt of power for spacecraft missions to the outer solar system, and one that pumps out 10 kW to support operations on the surface of the moon and Mars. NASA has indicated that the Kilopower system could run a multitude of space operations, including drilling, melting, heating, refrigeration, sample collection, material processing, manufacturing, video, radar, laser, electric propulsion, telecomm, rover recharging, and more.

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Testing of a Kilopower reactor, known as KRUSTY (Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology), began last year in the desert of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The next step is to test a Kilopower reactor at full power to simulate space operations, which is scheduled to occur in the spring.

Once NASA completes the Deep Space Gateway—a space station orbiting in the vicinity of the moon to give astronauts access to the surface—the agency probably would set its sights on sending crewed missions to Mars. Such a mission would have a hard time landing on the planet while carrying enough heavy fuels for the astronauts to use, so fuel will need to be sent in advance or manufactured right the surface of the planet.

That's where Kilopower comes in. NASA's Mars 2020 rover will test a device that pulls oxygen out of the atmosphere, technology that will be essential for life support and manufacturing liquid oxygen propellants on Mars. Future systems based on the Mars 2020 experiment could be powered by small nuclear reactors like Kilopower. NASA estimates that 40 to 50 kW of power will be required to support a surface habitat on Mars, so four of five Kilopower reactors will be required for a future martian base.



Nuclear power has a number of advantages when compared to other sources of electricity. Chemical fuels are incredibly heavy for their energy output, and solar power is only efficient in direct sunlight, a temporary state on Mars at best. Enough solar panels to power a Mars habitat would also be unreasonably heavy, again requiring more fuel.

It will likely be decades before the first astronaut's boots land on the red sands of Mars, but lunar operations could come to fruition much sooner, and new missions to the outer planets are under serious consideration. NASA and Los Alamos are working to make sure none of their space exploration ambitions are stalled by a lack of power.

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