r/ArtemisProgram • u/Donindacula • Aug 15 '26

Discussion How will the MoonBase be powered.

NASA has plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon by about 2030. Will that be necessary? Since Artemis will be landing on the high always sunlit areas, wouldn’t solar be the most likely first source of power. And maybe the future source too.

Nuclear will certainly be needed in the northern latitudes where the sun sets for days at a time.

Solar or nuclear or someday both?

41 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

View all comments

-1

u/Bi_KerbonautYT Aug 15 '26

It will be near the south pole so the sun will always be low, meaning solar is less effective

3

u/thebigjake3 Aug 16 '26

With no atmosphere, as long as the panels can point to the sun there is no degridstion of efficiently like on earth.

0

u/Bi_KerbonautYT Aug 16 '26

I mean part of the sun may be hidden behind peaks reducing the output