The tiny nuclear fuel cell, known as a Trisofuel is currently being tested
Moon is often regarded as the gateway to Mars and it holds a considerable reserve of valuable resources essential for modern technology. But, humans have not been on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
That's why the NASA-led Artemis Programme wants to build an outpost on the Moon by around 2030. However, building a base on the Moon would require a reliable energy source as certain areas of the Moon experience bone-chilling temperatures as low as -248°C. Recently, scientists at Bangor University in the UK have developed nuclear fuel cells, of the size of poppy seeds, to create energy that is required to sustain life there, BBC reported.
The Bangor team worked in partnership with companies such as Rolls Royce, the UK space agency, NASA, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US.
Researchers at the university have sent their tiny nuclear fuel cell, known as a Trisofuel, to their partners for testing. Trisofuel could be used to power a micro nuclear generator, created by Rolls Royce. It will undergo rigorous testing simulating the stresses of space travel, preparing for deployment in a Moon base by 2030.
Notably, the generator is a portable device the size of a small car or something that people can keep in their pockets.
Professor in Nuclear Materials and Co-director of the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University, Prof Simon Middleburgh said in a statement, ''This project will harness the expertise in nuclear fuels which we have within the Nuclear Futures Institute and apply it to one of the most exciting applications possible: space exploration.
"On the moon and on planetary bodies that have day and night, we can no longer rely on the Sun for energy and therefore must design systems such as the small micro-reactor to sustain life.
"Nuclear power is the only way we currently have to provide the power for that length of space travel. The fuel must be extremely robust survive the forces of launch and then be dependable for many years.''
Recently, India made a historic landing near the Moon's south pole with its Chandrayaan-3 mission. The Vikram lander made a soft lunar landing at 6.04 PM IST on August 23. The moon mission made India the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface after the US, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union.