It is impossible to explore other planets and deep space without nuclear energy.

To further explore the universe, humanity will need to make a major technological breakthrough. Exploring other planets and deep space is impossible without nuclear energy.

This issue has been increasingly raised in the world's leading spacefaring nations recently. Last month, Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, gave a lecture on nuclear energy in space during the "Knowledge. Science" marathon. He spoke in a very accessible manner about the development of the industry, its current state, and the technological principles on which it is based.

There are two applications of nuclear energy in space. The first is the installation of nuclear power plants in orbit and on the surfaces of planets or their satellites to provide electricity to permanent bases. The second is the use of nuclear power plants to power spacecraft for deep-space missions to other planets.

In fact, issues related to the development of nuclear energy in space are of great practical importance and should be addressed now, without delay.

This is evidenced, in particular, by the statement made by US Secretary of Transportation and Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in August of this year. The official announced US plans to deliver a small 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor to the Moon by 2030. This reactor would not only generate electricity for an American lunar base but would also effectively secure US control over a portion of the lunar surface. In this way, Washington could outcompete Russia and China in the competition for the Moon and its resources. It is no wonder that Duffy's statement spurred global interest in the use of nuclear energy in space.

Comments

[Silver99]

I may disappoint some, but even with nuclear propulsion, humanity will NEVER conquer deep space. The first factor is time, which simply doesn't exist in space. Time must be based on something, such as the Earth's rotation, the cycle of day and night, and the seasons—all of which don't exist in space. Furthermore, due to the immense distances involved, the lifespan of a hundred generations wouldn't be enough to see the results of a flight. Let's instead develop Earth, stop fighting, and focus all our resources on improving life here. Let's not bring our values ​​to space; they might not like our way of life. Space isn't hostile to us; it's simply indifferent.

[Egoza]

Quote from Silver99

Let's better develop the Earth

We need to establish order here, not just on Earth, but in our own country. And if the Cosmos is interested in us, we'll welcome you, talk, pour you a drink, have a snack...and then we'll see.

[Silver99]

I'm not even asking what language we'll speak... just pour and drink. We'll understand without words.

[Evgeny64]

Remind: "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, someday we will have to get out of the cradle"?
No one is counting on nuclear energy for deep space exploration; that's only for the solar system. But it needs to be harnessed gradually, simply for the sake of science and technological advancement.
If humanity reasoned like you, we still wouldn’t have discovered America, according to the principle

Let's stop fighting and direct all our resources to improving life here.

Although there is something in this, there would be much fewer problems

[igorbrsv]

The first factor is time, it simply does not exist in space, time must be based on something, the rotation of the Earth

Well, I disagree. Time will continue to flow as usual. But I don't think there's any point in exploring deep space anytime soon either. We should figure things out on Earth, so we don't croak. We should at least conduct research so we don't fall behind. Otherwise, we'll be the first ones to go down the drain. Actually, no. The lead is already taken. Then we'll be next.

[Silver99]

Excuse me, but in space, especially in deep space, time will flow relative to what? There are Kozyrev's experiments in time travel and teleportation, but that's in the very distant future. If you find it, read it; it's fascinating.

[igorbrsv]

I love physics
I'll give it a try. I'm an amateur, but the main thing is to strive.

[kig]

Quote from Silver99

Kozyrev's experiments in time travel

Causal mechanics (theory of time) is a hypothesis about the physical properties of time and the objective distinction between causes and effects, not recognized by the scientific community and lacking sufficient experimental confirmation, proposed by the Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai Kozyrev in 1958.

Since it's not recognized, you won't find the facts anywhere. And what you can read is just words, and the words of those who know nothing about this theory. And they don't know because it's not recognized. And it's not recognized because it can't be tested. And I don't test it because it's not recognized.

And so on.

Although one of its postulates, “Time has a special, absolute property that distinguishes the future from the past, causes from effects, which can be called direction or course.” sounds good

[Ջոն Գալտ]

There's no such thing as teleportation the way kids read about it in science fiction books. Whether it's teleporting information or physical objects. What quantum physics has been doing for the past decades is nothing more than an attempt to reinterpret the same world with the same laws—"the same old story, but from a different perspective." Superluminal transmission of anything other than phase is impossible in principle. "Unteleporting" any quantum-entangled object still requires a classical communication channel. And there's no way around it. As a branch of applied mathematics and a new computational method for a rather limited range of data processing and transmission tasks, quantum teleportation is a wonderful breakthrough. But forget about instantaneous travel and direct telephone communication with the Aldebarans.

[vargo]

Let's better develop the Earth and stop fighting.

Hostility is a characteristic of humans as a species. Part of their internal self-regulation. And there's no escaping it; I'm sure you've been angry at someone at least once. And that's no less than hostility. It's just on a different scale, and with different consequences.
So this is just a utopia for now.
We'll definitely be able to explore the space of our own system, and we'll think about more later. Deep space also requires ideas and installations. Deep space probes to study objects of scientific interest are still in place. You're wrong to think there's no place for us there. And the question of a time reference point is solvable, but not exactly simple.

[White wind]

We'd rather destroy everything here than explore space, much less deep space. The US and Russian space programs are 60 years old, and in that time, it's unlikely humans have even set foot on the Moon. It's a year's journey to Mars, and what's happening on the outskirts of the Solar System remains unclear, as new small planets are discovered there every year. The distances to the nearest stars are simply unimaginable. We're just a speck of dust in this world, but our pride has swelled to encompass the entire universe.

[cytadell]

And what's happening on the outskirts of the solar system is still unclear...

And where this edge is and what it looks like isn't entirely clear. The Americans, launching their probes toward this edge, thought they'd reach it in a couple of years. Imagine their surprise when the probe, having flown almost three times further, never made it. Either the edge is receding, or space is elastic. Or maybe the Universe is getting fatter... that is, expanding. ;)

[Podvodnik]

. for flights into deep space to other planets.

Yeah. 2+2=4
Discovered America. Deep space. Naturally, solar panels can't be used, the sun doesn't shine!
What a scientific discovery! How else can we generate electricity in deep space?

[the same doctor]

The most important problem with generating electricity in space is how to dispose of the condenser's heat. Therefore, mobile space nuclear jet engines must transfer the heat directly to the working fluid. But there's no way to reach temperatures above three thousand degrees Celsius, and therefore, there's no advantage over chemical engines.
Any micro-engines based on electric effects become too massive when scaled up... Accordingly, their use increases flight duration by tens and hundreds of times. A ship with such an engine could and would fly to Mars and back on a single tank of fuel, but it would take 10 years each way.

[gridasov]

And whoever said temperature was necessary? On the contrary, ultra-high dynamic compression vacuum technologies will define the fundamentals of space travel. But first, the mathematical foundations for describing space need to be expanded.

[LuzinI]

China must take the lead in future space exploration. The US (under Musk) has the advantage of aging launch vehicles and a number of simple (by today's standards) communications satellites. In Europe and Russia, space programs are starved of funds and will therefore lag significantly over the next 10 years, resulting in the role of "followers" (Europe to the US, and Russia to China). This is the "cold war" in space.

[Sensor]

The first is to install nuclear power plants in the orbits and surfaces of planets or their satellites to provide electricity to permanent bases.

Nuclear power plants cannot be suspended in Earth orbit; sooner or later they will fall and create areas of radioactive contamination.
«Космос-954» (СССР, 1978 г.) cм. https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%81-954
and SNAP-9A (USA, 1964) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_for_Nuclear_Auxiliary_Power#SNAP-9
a short paragraph in English

[gridasov]

The point is that radioactive materials can be used for energy production in a fundamentally different and justifiably more efficient way.

[gridasov]

Humanity and scientists are clearly on the threshold of understanding and mastering a new level of energy technologies, which are orders of magnitude more powerful than nuclear technologies, energy production, and weapons. Figuratively speaking, not in the language of physics, this is a supervacuum weapon. No, it's not thermobaric methods or other decompression techniques. And if anyone understands that we exist in a world of shells with a center of mass that create balance for a certain period of existence of material objects, then the supervacuum process is oppositely directed. And depending on its level and the algorithm for the energy conversion stages, we will obtain not just a weapon of destruction, but a weapon of leveling. In other words, the technology is not an initial explosion and radial compression sequence, but first compression and then expansion, which is a more optimized process. Therefore, space flights are becoming more efficient not based on fuel technologies, but on electromagnetic generators with directional polarization and a directional flight vector. In the space of highly polarized planetary interactions, the flight of objects must also be at the level of these physical principles.

[the same doctor]

Nuclear power plants don't solve the problem of working fluid and engine heat resistance. Therefore, they will only reduce the amount of "fuel" carried by no more than half. And it's not a given that the weight of the power plants themselves won't offset this savings. This doesn't even include micro-engines.
.
The only sensible use for such installations is to transport metal-rich asteroids into closer orbit. A processing plant with a reactor is installed on such a rock, processing the ore and using the waste as a working fluid. A hundred years later, the rock is in Earth orbit, and hauling the prepared material from there is easy and cheap.

[RondelR]

And it's impossible with her. The maximum we can do under our system is fly.

[Tank destroyerSU-100]

The funniest thing is that the USSR actually flew nuclear reactors in orbit and mass-produced them! They were part of the US-A and US-AM spacecraft.
True, these were thermoelectric nuclear power plants, with an electrical power of 6-7 kW.
A thermionic conversion nuclear power plant demonstrated the potential and viability of this design. Subsequent experimental work, which continued into the 90s, demonstrated that a thermionic nuclear power plant is capable of generating up to 100 kW.
If more than 100 kW of power is needed, then turbomachine conversion is required.
Research into nuclear propulsion systems has shown that, for example, when the working fluid is pumped directly through the active zone, the specific impulse of a nuclear rocket engine is orders of magnitude greater than that of an engine with chemical fuel components.