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.

Astronaut in space. Illustration. Many plans have been proposed, such as “launch” ill-fated astronauts into space, burial on Mars, even used as food for the crew. If there is a problem on the flight itinerary We are entering an exciting space era, in which many hope human’s first step on the surface of Mars will not be far away. However, as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once said, “If you want to go to Mars, prepare for death.” About 21 astronauts have been killed since humans first set foot on a spacecraft and flew into space 60 years ago. According to experts, the death toll will inevitably increase as space agencies prepare for missions to send humans to Mars. To get to the Red planet, astronauts spend at least seven months living inside a cramped spaceship, traveling long distances, deep. If they survive this journey, they will have to endure the harsh environment of the Martian world. When a crew member dies while on a mission, it will take months, even years, for their bodies to be brought back to Earth. This situation raises a question: What happens to the body of a dead person in space? NASA does not have procedures to handle corpses in space because the astronauts selected for the mission are guaranteed physical and mental health. However, researchers around the world have thought of this situation and proposed measures to handle when an astronaut accidentally dies. During the mission on the journey to Mars, can the astronaut’s body be placed in cold storage or freeze-dried until the spacecraft returns to Earth? The process of freezing drying in space is much different from that on Earth. On Earth, people would use liquid nitrogen to freeze bodies, but in space, a robotic arm would hang the body wrapped in a bag on the outside of a spacecraft. The body will freeze for an hour, become brittle, then the arm will shake, breaking into small pieces. This process will theoretically turn an astronaut weighing 90kg into a mass of only 22kg, which can be stored on a spaceship for many years. But if this freeze-drying isn’t an option, the crew can send off their deceased companion to stay forever in the vast universe. Catherine Conley of NASA’s Office for the Protection of the Planet told Popular Science: “At the moment, there are no specific guidelines in the plan to protect the planet, either at the NASA level or internationally, regarding” bury “a deceased astronaut by throwing the body into space”. The solution of releasing the dead into space seems to be the easiest option, the body will stay on the spacecraft’s journey and linger on the place where it was released. And if more missions choose this approach, future spacecraft heading towards Mars will likely collide with many corpses. The robotic arm holds the dead body in space waiting to freeze. Illustration. Bad situation going to Mars If you are lucky enough to survive on a journey that lasts approximately 7 months and reach Mars, astronauts will face new challenges that threaten their survival, radiation. Previous data showed that Mars is 700 times more contaminated with radiation than Earth. Radiation can alter the cardiovascular system, damage the heart, harden and narrow the arteries, or remove some of the cells in the lining of blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular disease and may end with the death of the astronaut. In this case, burial on Mars would be necessary, but NASA has strict laws about contaminating other planets from microorganisms on Earth. NASA scientist Conley told Popular Science: “Regarding the disposal of organic matter (including corpses) on Mars, we are not imposing any restrictions as long as all are eliminated. microorganisms on Earth. So it is necessary to cremate ”. However, not every dead astronaut can be buried, but in some emergency situation, such as when the remaining crew runs out of food and in order to survive, the corpse of the human. The team can help them sustain life on their way back to Earth. It sounds barbaric, but there has been such a case in the past, when a plane crashed into the Andes in 1972. The survivors had no food and no way to communicate with them. outside, so in order to sustain life, to find someone to come and save, they made the difficult decision to eat the dead as soon as the plane crashed. Biologist Paul Wolpe said: “Although we give our bodies a lot of respect, life is everything. If the only way a human could survive was to eat a body, then that would be acceptable, even if no one wanted it.

Building a synchronous and modern infrastructure system is one of three strategic breakthroughs set out in the document of the XIII Congress of the Party. Photo: Quang Thai Restructuring and adding new content From the experience in organizing the implementation of Resolution of the XII Congress, the Party is more deeply aware of the importance and practical meaning of grasping and implementing key tasks. Therefore, the political report of the XIII Congress of the Party separates the content “The key tasks, strategic breakthroughs in the XIII Congress term” into a separate section – section XV. Compared with the Political Report of Congress XI, XII, the key tasks presented in the Political Report of the XIII Congress were restructured and added new content. These are 6 key tasks: (1) Building and reorganizing the Party, building the political system, building a contingent of cadres; (2) Strongly promote economic development; (3) Strengthening foreign affairs, international integration, national defense and security …; (4) Promote the cultural values ​​and human strength of Vietnam; strengthening social development management, realizing social progress and equity; (5) Promote socialist democracy, strong national unity; (6) Natural resource management, environmental protection, climate change adaptation. New points in the arrangement and presentation of the above tasks are integrating the focus on Party building, the political system, economic development, strengthening national defense, security, foreign affairs, and development of culture, society and people; separation to emphasize the focus on promoting socialist democracy and the strength of great national unity; supplement the focus on natural resources and environment protection and climate change adaptation. For the first key task “Building and regulating the Party, building a political system, building a contingent of cadres”, the XIII Congress political report added some urgent contents such as: Doi Moi the Party’s leadership and ruling modes; step up the fight to prevent and combat negativity, “group interests”, consolidate the people’s confidence and attachment to the Party, the State and the socialist regime. In the second mission of strongly promoting economic development, the XIII Congress Political Report added, emphasizing the new contents in accordance with the requirements arising in the new context. Notably, it focused on controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, mass vaccination of Covid-19 vaccine for the community; complete synchronous development institutions in accordance with the complete, modern and integrated market economy; overcoming bottlenecks hindering the development of the country … Of the remaining core missions, the sixth is a new one. On the basis of the deep awareness of the increasingly serious challenges of natural resources, environment and climate change to national development, the XIII Congress’s political report has identified: “Strict management, use rational and efficient use of land and natural resources; environmental protection and improvement; proactively and actively deploy adaptation solutions to climate change ”. Supplement and develop strategic breakthroughs In addition, the XIII Congress document specially focuses on identifying strategic breakthroughs in accordance with the requirements and requirements of the next 5 or 10 years. Political report identifies 3 strategic breakthroughs in the XIII Congress term; The 10-year socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030 also outlines 3 strategic breakthroughs in 10 years. There are differences between the Political Report and the 10-year socio-economic development strategy 2021-2030, although there are differences in determining the specific content of each strategic breakthrough due to the different time coverage (5 years and 10 years), but unanimously stated: 3 strategic breakthroughs identified by the XI and XII Congress of the Party (institutions for market economic development; high-quality human resources; infrastructure system modern, synchronous) is meaningful, long-term value, still intact and will be concretized in accordance with the conditions and requirements of each stage of development. Three strategic breakthroughs identified in the XIII Congress document have remarkable additions and developments. In particular, for a strategic breakthrough on synchronous improvement of development institutions, the Expanded Political Report requires synchronous improvement of development institutions, in which the market economy institution has a socialist orientation. is the focus. From a 10-year overview, the 10-year socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030 expands and emphasizes the complete content of the complete, modern and integrated socialist-oriented market economy institution. ; renovate national governance towards modernization associated with building a streamlined, effective and efficient socialist rule of law State apparatus. As for strategic breakthroughs in human resource development, especially high-quality human resources, the Political Report identifies two basic contents: (1) Prioritizing human resource development for leadership, management and key domains in national construction and defense; (2) Human resource development must be closely linked and based on enhancement, creating a fundamental change in the quality of education and training; associating with the mechanism of recruiting, using and treating talents … These contents are presented in more detail and details in the 10-year socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030. Strategic breakthrough in building a synchronous and modern infrastructure system, Political Report emphasizes two priorities: (1) Development of a number of national key projects in transport, adapting to climate change; (2) Develop information and telecommunications infrastructure, create a national digital transformation platform, step by step develop digital economy and digital society. The 10-year socio-economic development strategy for 2021-2030 adds priority to the development of large urban infrastructure and energy infrastructure and emphasizes the requirement to build and synchronously develop national data infrastructure. (The article uses the material of “New points in documents of the XIII Congress of the Party” compiled by the Central Theoretical Council).