Bangor scientists design fuel to live in space

NASA's Artemis Program aims to establish a base on the Moon by around 2030.

Scientists from Bangor University in Wales have developed nuclear cells as small as poppy seeds to make life possible in the lunar base.The technology, developed in partnership with Rolls Royce, the UK Space Agency, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, enables an entire nuclear power plant to be the size of a car.

The Moon, which can also serve as a stopover on journeys to Mars, possesses many essential resources for modern technologies.The on-site utilization of these resources could make it easier to travel to other planets.

Prof. Middleburgh stated that they would subject the nuclear fuel to comprehensive testing in the coming months.

Due to the lack of an atmosphere on the Moon, the temperature can drop as low as -248 degrees Celsius.The nuclear fuel, known as Trisofuel, developed by the university, will be used in the micro nuclear power plant produced by Rolls Royce.Prof. Middleburgh mentioned that it's possible to load this power plant onto a rocket and transport it to the Moon.How the power plant will be affected by the pressures, vibrations, and accelerations of space travel will be understood through tests conducted in the coming period.

Another team from Bangor University is developing nuclear propulsion sources for space rockets.

Dr. Phylis Makurunje, the head of the team, announced that their new systems provide very powerful thrust and will reduce the Mars journey, which currently takes over 9 months with existing technologies, to around 6 months.