Nuclear power has advanced a long way since the first research reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, achieved criticality in 1942. Fission technology is now slated to land on the lunar surface to provide power in support of missions to the south polar region of the Moon.

A request for information (RFI) issued by Battelle Energy Alliance, the managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL), seeks prospective partners to design and validate a fission surface power (FSP) system that can be operated on the Moon as well as the Martian surface.

Design goals for the NASA- and INL-sponsored project specify an FSP capable of producing uninterrupted A fission surface power system that can be operated on the Moon will be developed. Source: NASAelectricity output of not less than 10 kW at the interface end of a 1-km cable. The scalable system with a maximum mass goal of 3,500 kg should also provide 120 V DC at the end of the cable. Additional requirements include autonomous operation and the capability to survive a single credible failure without reducing electric power capacity by more than 50%.

Interested parties can submit responses through September 8, 2020, after which the RFI will inform a subsequent request for proposals for Phase I of the project. This phase will culminate with a preliminary design of an FSP engineering demonstration unit while Phase II will include a final FSP design together with manufacturing, construction and ground testing of a prototype demonstration unit. The project has scheduled a test-qualified FSP flight system for launch readiness no later than Dec. 31, 2026.