Surface Power: Solar, Batteries, RTGs and Fission
Which power sources will run lunar operations, and what does each cost per kilowatt delivered to the surface?
Chapter summary
Early landers run on solar arrays and batteries for days to weeks.
Key takeaways
- 1
Radioisotope heaters and generators keep small systems alive through the night, but plutonium-238 is scarce and produced in kilograms a year.
- 2
Vertical solar arrays on polar ridges, such as NASA's Vertical Solar Array Technology projects, can produce tens of kilowatts with short nights.
- 3
For a base, the only option that provides tens to hundreds of kilowatts day and night is fission, which is why NASA set a 2030 target for a lunar reactor.
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Surviving the Night: the 354-Hour Problem
Next →Lunar Reactor-1: Fission Power on the Moon by 2030
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