LIFE ON MARS: NASA develop nuclear power plants to help humans settle on red planet
NASA scientists are developing nuclear reactors that will allow humans to settle on Mars, it has been revealed.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover captures Martian dust devils
The nuclear fission reactors will work by splitting uranium atoms in half to generate heat which will then be converted into electric power.
With each reactor producing 10 kilowatts of power, it would only take four to power everything a colony of eight people would need to survive.
The decision to develop the reactors comes half a century after they were last tested by NASA in the 1960s.
The decision to develop the reactors comes half a century after they were last tested by NASA
And it follows requests from US President Donald Trump for the agency to help man walk on Mars during his time in office.
But the project is far from cheap, with just the testing phase costing the American taxpayer £11million.
It comes as entrepreneur Elon Musk outlines his plans to colonise Mars, claiming the Red Planet will be completely dominated by humans within a century.
Just the testing phase is costing the American taxpayer £11million
The billionaire behind businesses such as Tesla and PayPal has detailed his strategy that will see his SpaceX firm get humans to Mars.
The South African-born businessman believes SpaceX can make it commercially viably to create a civilisation on Mars and hopes that tickets will be available for a relatively cheap $200,000 (£157,000) per person.
In a paper published on New Space, Mr Musk wrote: “Right now, you cannot go to Mars for infinite money.
“Using traditional methods, taking an Apollo-style approach, an optimistic cost would be about $10 billion (£8bn) per person.
The nuclear fission reactors will work by splitting uranium atoms in half
“You cannot create a self-sustaining civilisation if the ticket price is $10 billion per person.
“If we can get the cost of moving to Mars to be roughly equivalent to a median house price in the United States, which is around $200,000 (£157,000), then I think the probability of establishing a self-sustaining civilisation is very high.
“I think it would almost certainly occur.”