What is it about?
Radioisotope power systems (RPS) utilize the decay of radioactive materials to create heat and power. The lunar surface is a harsh environment for humans and human technology, and RPSs could help enable greater exploration, for both human and robotic activities.
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Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Why is it important?
NASA is working to return to the Moon for a sustained and sustainable human presence. Power will be a vital part of this enterprise. Solar power and batteries will not be able to sustain the NASA ideal alone, so radioisotope power systems are a logical addition to the framework.
Perspectives
Despite costing tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, most lunar landers max out their lifetime at 14 days - AKA, one Lunar Day. The Lunar Night, which also lasts 14 Earth days, combines frigid temperatures (-120°C) and complete sunlessness to create an environment very hostile to human tech. Surviving the Lunar Night (STN) is a major goal for lunar exploration, and not one without precedent - many landers and experiments from the Space Race operated on the Moon for years at a time. The most successful of those survivors used radioisotope power systems (RPS) to survive. As interest in the Moon is renewed and RPSs are becoming commercially-available, future lunar operators should consider adopting RPS into their mission plans.
Jaclyn Wiley
Zeno Power Systems
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Survive, Operate, Thrive: RHUs and RTGs to Enable Sustainable Exploration of the Lunar Surface and Permanently Shadowed Regions, October 2023, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2023-4691.
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