The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Centre in Northeast Ohio has been selected to lead the development of nuclear power systems for lunar missions. Glenn Research Center, which includes the Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, won out over other NASA facilities across the US.
In August, Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy issued a Fission Surface Power (FSP) Development directive asking the agency to fast-track plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. “We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon,” he told a news conference. “And to have a base on the moon, we need energy.” He added: Energy is important, and if we’re going to be able to sustain life on the moon, to then go to Mars, this technology is critically important…. We have to marshal all of our resources, all of our focus on going to the moon, which is what we’re going to do.”
Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s new associate administrator, told News 5: “I’ve asked [NASA Glenn Director Jimmy Kenyon] to take the responsibility of developing, fielding and acquiring that system for us for Artemis mission and our future lunar bases. That programme is going to be here at Glenn.”
He added that NASA had been challenged to solve the power problem in deep space. “That’s essential. You can’t do anything: you can’t build infrastructure, you can’t build a sustained presence unless you have power. That’s going to help us power our moon base, help us power everything on the surface,” he said. “We all know the future of deep space exploration is going to rely on nuclear power.”
As part of the directive, NASA will partner with private companies to build a system capable of generating at least 100 kW of power on the moon. NASA will also help private companies clear regulatory obstacles to facilitate the development of this lunar nuclear power system.
Experts estimate the project could being billions of dollars to Northeast Ohio. Kshatriya emphasized that the project’s regional benefits. “We’re trying to build an agency that flies things – wants to build things, you’re going to see that spread in the region around here,” he said. “You’re going to see industries all over Northeast Ohio benefit from that. The energy, inspiration provided by this centre will spread to the entire region.”
This development comes after state and local leaders pushed earlier this year not only for NASA Glenn to avoid cuts made in the White House’s proposed NASA budget, but also to be the future headquarters for NASA. The space agency’s lease at its Washington, DC headquarters is up in 2028. Congress has since proposed rejecting the bulk of the White House’s proposed cuts to NASA.
Meanwhile, Ohio State University Engineers are developing a nuclear propulsion system that uses liquid uranium to directly heat rocket propellant as an alternative to solid fuel elements used by traditional nuclear propulsion systems.
Their concept, called the centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR), is specially designed to improve rocket performance while simultaneously minimising any engine risk. While similar breakthroughs have focused on affordability rather than performance, CNTR could offers a substantial advantage for future crewed space missions. Compared with other types of nuclear-powered systems, it can approximately double an engine’s efficiency, said Dean Wang, a senior member of the project and an Associate Professor in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State.
“In recent years, there has been quite an increased interest in nuclear thermal propulsion technology as we contemplate returning humans to the moon and working in cis-lunar space,” said Wang. “But beyond it, a new system is needed, as traditional chemical engines may not be feasible.”
Chemical engines have hitherto been used in spaceflight but they are limited in thrust, and use large quantities of propellant. Consequently, missions to the outer reaches of the solar system can take a long time – nine years in the case of the New Horizons spacecraft that flew by Pluto.
Future missions will require propulsion systems that can reduce travel time, increase the amount of material sent on the mission, or both, if researchers want to safely send astronauts to far-off destinations. “The longer you are in space, the more susceptible you are to all types of health risks,” said Wang. “So if we can make that any shorter, it’d be very beneficial.”
Utilising nuclear thermal propulsion would also mean more flexibility for mission operations, as rockets could take advantage of additional flight trajectories not possible with chemical engines, to help reach deep-space targets in a shorter time.
Overall, these heightened capabilities could allow quicker round-trip human missions to Mars as well as support novel one-way robotic missions to the outer planets, including Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, said Spencer Christian, a PhD student in engineering at Ohio State. Christian leads prototype construction of CNTR under John Horack, a Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering.
“You could have a safe one-way trip to Mars in six months, for example, as opposed to doing the same mission in a year,” said Christian. “Depending on how well it works, the prototype CNTR engine is pushing us towards the future.”
“We have a very good understanding of the physics of our design, but there are still technical challenges that we need to overcome,” said Wang. The CNTR concept is expected to reach design readiness within the next five years. “We need to keep space nuclear propulsion as a consistent priority in the future, so that technology can have time to mature,” Wang noted. “It’s a huge benefit that we can’t afford to miss out on.” The team’s effort was supported by a grant provided by NASA.
