atomic moon rover

[dragon]

Well at least the chinese are showing some serious interest in their atomic moon rover. Hopefully NASA will get off their butts and start exploring the moon again.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) – Scientists in Shanghai are developing an atomic-powered lunar rover for China's first unmanned mission to the moon in 2012, newspapers reported Monday.

The as-yet unnamed six-wheeled lunar vehicle has been under development for four years at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute, where a specialized testing laboratory has been outfitted to replicate the lunar surface, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The 1.5-meter (5-foot) high, 200-kilogram (440-pound) rover is designed to transmit video in real time, dig for and analyze soil samples, and produce three dimensional images of the lunar surface, the paper said.

In photographs, the rover appeared similar to NASA's unmanned Spirit and Opportunity Mars explorers that were launched in 2003 and are still operating.

However, unlike the rechargeable lithium ion batteries used by those rovers, the Chinese model will eventually run on a nuclear power source to ensure a constant energy supply, the report said.

“We want to make it better than the early U.S. and Russian rovers,'' the institute's director, Luo Jian, was quoted as saying.

Rival rovers are being developed by similar institutes in Beijing and elsewhere and a decision to put Shanghai's candidate on public display over the weekend appeared to be an attempt to get an edge on the competition. It isn't clear when the successful candidate will be selected.

With an average speed of 100 meters (328 feet) per hour, it can negotiate inclines and has automatic sensors to prevent it from crashing into other objects, the report said.

Researchers were still refining its ability to handle low gravity, exposure to cosmic rays and temperature extremes, and plan to build an even more sophisticated laboratory to mimic those conditions, the newspaper said.

No figures were given for the cost of the rover program. A man who answered the phone at the institute's main number said it had a policy of not accepting media interviews.

The institute is part of China's sprawling military-linked space program that has sent two manned missions into space, with a third manned space mission scheduled for next year that will reportedly include the country's first spacewalk.

China plans to send an unmanned space ship to orbit the moon this year, in the first step in its three-stage lunar exploration project. An unmanned mission to land on the moon is next and a manned lunar voyage is planned for some time after 2017.

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[Zor]

Heres to hoping for a second space race.

Zor

[TheLemur]

Well, we're currently building a nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory. Maybe a new space race will motivate us to actually start a viable space industry accessible to people other than millionaires.

[Coriolis]

I just hope nothing happens when they launch these things, because there will be repercussions if the rockets fail.

[JointStrikeFighter]

I just hope nothing happens when they launch these things, because there will be repercussions if the rockets fail.

We've put rockets with nuclear power sources into space before.

[Marko Dash]

Why wasn't the ISS given a reactor anyway, it seems like it would be much more effective than a farm of solar panels?

[Shroom Man 777]

Because Satan invented nuclear power.

Hah, eat that, hippie scum!

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Why wasn't the ISS given a reactor anyway, it seems like it would be much more effective than a farm of solar panels?

You can be sure the treehuggers will be out there protesting against it.

[Ma Deuce]

I just hope nothing happens when they launch these things, because there will be repercussions if the rockets fail.

I don't know how the Chinese will build theirs, but the RTGs used by the US and Russians are virtually indestructible, and probably wouldn't break open even if the spacecraft fell out of orbit. One example I can think of is the RTG on the Apollo 13 lunar module, which survived it's fall through Earth's atmosphere and subsequent crash: the lack of plutonium contamination in the seawater surrounding the crash site indicates that the RTG cask was not breached. Another example was the Russian Mars 8 space probe, which malfunctioned during it's boost into earth orbit and crashed off Chile in 1996, again without breaching it's RTG.

Why wasn't the ISS given a reactor anyway, it seems like it would be much more effective than a farm of solar panels?

That's already been covered, but I feel I should point out that this Chinese rover will be powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), which is not actually a reactor and has been used as a power source by numerous space missions since the '60s.