Russia will send nuclear spacecraft into space for interplanetary missions

Russia is planning to send a nuclear-powered spacecraft to the Moon, followed by Venus and Jupiter.
Interplanetary Mission

Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos has said that a “space tug” – a term used to refer to a spacecraft that transports astronauts or equipment from one orbit to another, is expected to be launched into space. to perform an interplanetary mission in 2030. This spacecraft is powered by a power module called Zeus. Basically, Zeus is like a mobile nuclear power plant, able to generate enough energy to operate spacecraft, transport equipment and goods in space. Currently, several countries are interested in similar technology as a way to shorten journeys in space. Design of the space tug. Photo: Roscosmos. Traditionally, spacecraft have relied on solar power or gravity to accelerate. This means that it takes astronauts more than 3 years to make the trip around Mars. NASA estimates that a nuclear-powered spacecraft could make that journey in a year. The US hopes to put a 10-kilowatt nuclear reactor integrated with the lunar lander, on the Moon as early as 2027. However, so far, NASA has only put one nuclear reactor. launched into space for the SNAP-10A satellite in 1965. Other spacecraft such as the Mars Curiosity and Perseverance probes are also nuclear-powered, but they do not use a reactor. Meanwhile, Russia has sent more than 30 nuclear reactors into space. The Zeus module is expected to further Russia’s space efforts by using a 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor to power spacecraft to travel from planet to planet. other planets, Sputnik quoted information from Roscosmos said. According to the Russian plan, the nuclear spacecraft will approach the Moon first, then head towards Venus, where it can use the planet’s gravity to move to its final destination, Jupiter. This will help save propellant. The entire mission will take 50 months (more than four years), said Alexander Bloshenko, executive director of development programs and advanced science at Roscosmos. According to the official, Roscosmos and the Russian Academy of Sciences are still working to calculate the trajectory of the flight, as well as the payload the spacecraft can carry. Ultimately, this mission could lay the groundwork for a new strategy for the Russian aerospace industry. Sputnik reported that Moscow is designing a space station using similar nuclear energy technology. The advantage of nuclear energy in the universe Most spacecraft get their energy from some source: the sun, batteries, or radioactive atoms (also called radioisotopes). For example, NASA’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter uses solar panels to generate electricity. Solar energy can also be used to charge spacecraft batteries, however, it becomes less efficient if the spacecraft is far from the Sun. In other cases, lithium batteries could help power spacecraft for short journeys. Earlier in 2005, the Huygens probe used batteries to make a lightning landing on Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA’s Voyager spacecraft uses radioactive isotope (sometimes called a nuclear battery) to survive in the harsh environments of the solar system and interstellar space, but this is not the same thing. integrate a nuclear reactor into the spacecraft. Nuclear reactors offer several advantages as they can survive in dark and cold areas of the solar system without sunlight. They are also quite useful and quite reliable for long-term activities. The Zeus nuclear reactor is designed to last 10 to 12 years. In addition, they can propel spacecraft to other planets in less time. But nuclear power also presents some challenges of its own. Only certain fuels, such as highly enriched uranium, can withstand the extreme heat of the reactor. Furthermore, they may not be safe to use. In December 2020, the United States banned the use of highly enriched uranium to send objects into space if the operation could be made possible by other alternative sources of nuclear or non-nuclear fuel. Russia is about to build a space station in space Russian engineers began developing the “Zeus” module in 2010 with the goal of putting it into orbit within two decades, and they are on track to accomplish this goal. Production and testing commenced in 2018. By 2020, Roscosmos has signed a contract worth 4.2 billion rubles ($57.5 million) with St. Petersburg for the preliminary design of the space station. This will help Russia accelerate its efforts to develop a new space station by 2025. Earlier in April 2021, the BBC said that Russia plans to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) by 2025 and is ready to build its own space station. The International Space Station was established in 1998. This is an international cooperation project of 16 countries including the US and Russia, Japan, Canada, European Space Agency member states and Brazil. with a total investment capital of more than 100 billion USD.