The future of space exploration may rest in the hands of a group of Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers. They’ve built the first of a new generation of small nuclear reactors intended to power missions to deep space and even future astronaut bases on the moon and Mars.
Called Kilopower, their project aims to achieve a longstanding dream of the space community: a safe, effective, and powerful nuclear power reactor that can power spacecraft for years.
“I don’t think we can expand into deep space without nuclear power, which is what’s made me so passionate about developing the technology,” says David Poston, who leads the Kilopower team.
NASA already uses small nuclear devices called radiothermal gradients (RTG) on board deep space missions and the Mars Curiosity rover, but these typically run low power instruments.
For example, NASA’s New Horizons probe that flew past Pluto in 2015 and is heading to ...
