Rosatom will even build a reactor on the Moon, but not in Russia, I swear.
I know the core of the issue is that our moneybags refuse to industrialize, so there is no internal demand for Rosatom’s product, but I gotta removed at someone.
This rocks, especially because in the newest ep of Your Kickstarter Sucks, they find a campaign that wants to use a commercial spacecraft to deliver and erect a titanium cross on the moon because… space needs to know about Jesus I guess
This is pretty cool… but why?
Like a moon base with nuclear power is cool but I don’t get what they plan to do up there. I suppose if you want to set up a permanent base having a nuclear power plant is the only realistic option.
If China can pull off bootstrapping actual industry on the Moon, that would be a total game-changer. Right now, every screw, bolt, solar panel, or water tank sent to space costs a fortune because this stuff has to be shipped out of our gravity well. But if we can mine and manufacture stuff on the Moon, suddenly we’re not hauling everything up from Earth. That makes it possible to build things in space on a whole different scale.
On top of that, a lunar space elevator is way easier than an Earth one. The Moon’s gravity is weaker, and we already have existing materials strong enough to build one. No sci-fi tech needed, it’s just good old engineering. Once it’s up, launching stuff into orbit becomes almost free. With cheap orbital transport from the Moon, we could construct massive space stations, giant solar farms, or even interplanetary ships assembled in zero-G. No more squeezing payloads into tiny rockets, just build whatever you want, at scale.
Lunar exploration shouldn’t be just about flags and footprints. It’s the key stepping stone to making space practical. And once someone cracks it, the solar system opens up fast!
On top of that, a lunar space elevator is way easier than an Earth one.
A surface railgun, and other mass launchers, are also much better on the Moon as well, as there is no atmosphere so it becomes possible to launch things at scale straight back down to Earth, or to Mars or anywhere in the solar system. Imagine launching a new giant mining machine from the moon straight to some remote region on Earth and then launching another one at Mars, and even more at smaller asteroids that will themselves be used to launch more machines/industries/goods throught the solar system.
Yeah, there are a lot of possibilities here when you don’t have to worry about atmosphere getting in the way. Also, maglev trains to connect different moon bases would be a practical solution since you don’t need to make a depressurized tunnel for them to fly in. On a related note, this was a great overview of the research happening at the Tiangong station where they are focusing on tech that would allow colonies to become self sufficient. Stuff like 3d printing, growing food, etc. It does look like China is getting serious about space in a way that nobody has done before.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
You can say the same thing about a lot of basic research. Large Hadron Collider is cool, but why? Going to space is cool, but why?
“The station will conduct fundamental space research and test technology for long-term uncrewed operations of the ILRS, with the prospect of a human being’s presence on the Moon,” Roscosmos wrote
Once these basic pieces are established, China plans additional launches that will extend the base further, connecting it to a space station orbiting the moon and two nodes located at the moon’s equator and its far side. Wu Yanhua said
If we ignore the moon base as a way to project power and facilitate manned missions to Mars, it is likely that the people who signed this deal do not know exactly why they are agreeing to it. BUT, between now (when this agreement is signed) and the time that a moon base could come into existence, the reasons for having a permanent Moon base will only increase in my opinion.
