Russia talked about testing a nuclear engine for flying to the moon
A number of components of an autonomous prototype of a ground-based prototype of a transport and energy module (TEM) have successfully passed their first tests. The device operates on a megawatt nuclear power plant and is part of the program "Space Activities of Russia for 2013-2020." This information is contained on the pages of last year's Roskosmos report.
The project entitled "Creating a transport and energy module based on a megawatt-class nuclear power plant" was approved back in 2010. Then, 17 billion Russian rubles were allocated for its implementation. The face of the future "nuclear tug" was presented in November 2018, and a month earlier, at the Research Center named after MV Keldysh, announced the successful completion of testing the cooling system of the installation.
Recall that the main goal of the project of the domestic megawatt-class NEDP is to create high-performance energy complexes that in the future will make it possible to solve a wide range of problems in the space industry, starting from the study of our natural satellite and ending with the construction of automatic lunar bases.
The main feature of the Russian “nuclear tugboat” is the use of helium-xenon mixture as a coolant, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, as well as unique hull design and material. All this is able to ensure the continuous operation of the installation for 100 thousand hours, which theoretically will allow domestic spacecraft to reach the edge of the solar system.
The project entitled "Creating a transport and energy module based on a megawatt-class nuclear power plant" was approved back in 2010. Then, 17 billion Russian rubles were allocated for its implementation. The face of the future "nuclear tug" was presented in November 2018, and a month earlier, at the Research Center named after MV Keldysh, announced the successful completion of testing the cooling system of the installation.
Recall that the main goal of the project of the domestic megawatt-class NEDP is to create high-performance energy complexes that in the future will make it possible to solve a wide range of problems in the space industry, starting from the study of our natural satellite and ending with the construction of automatic lunar bases.
The main feature of the Russian “nuclear tugboat” is the use of helium-xenon mixture as a coolant, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, as well as unique hull design and material. All this is able to ensure the continuous operation of the installation for 100 thousand hours, which theoretically will allow domestic spacecraft to reach the edge of the solar system.
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