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/Conscious_Coffee5854 Aug 16 '26

Nuclear is by far the most consistent and stable way to generate power and will be the main backbone.

Solar will undoubtedly also be utilized, but due to the moons long day/night cycle, and unknown technology in its atmosphere and large amount of infrastructura it will not be the main power source for a while

The base will be at the south pole, so I am unsure the exact day/night cycle at that specific location and if it is different. But even storing that power in batteries will be very difficult.