Why isn’t nuclear power used in space as?
I’m no expert, but I know that nuclear power has been used in space in some limited operations. Many space probes, going to the outer planets use plutonium for energy because there isn’t enough sunlight to use solar cells in the outer Solar System. As far as military uses the USSR used nuclear reactors in some of their spy satellites. In fact one crashed in Canada during the 80’s. As far as Mars rovers, there is a huge weight trade-off as well as safety issues vs. solar cells. I do believe that in the future any deep space missions manned or robotic will need nuclear power.
To produce nuclear fission, you need a high amount of care, and is not very reliable. Also, it is much more expensive than solar panels. Also, solar panels are much more efficient in space, as they are always getting sun. Another reason why is because nuclear power is not stable. if there were to be a melt down on a shuttle almost any time it would result in billions of dollars in repairs and replacements. And that’s if it is all alone and near anything. If it was docked in a space station, then the space station would almost inevitably be destroyed as well. Not to mention the nuclear fall out rain (which by the way, cool weapon) which could possibly result from a melt down.
Nuclear power is used for power for electricity and propulsion. Vehicles heading AWAY from the sun can’t use solar panel cells. They use generators powered by plutonium and other radioactive materials. These produce power by the thermoelectric effect. This has been used for over 40 years by both USA and USSR. Latest is propulsion by powering an ion acceleration engine.
Weight is a huge concern for the investers. The more something weighs, the more it costs to get it into space. The process of getting it there isn’t full-proof either. Should a rocket that is lifting a satelite into space have a problem the nuclear fuel it’s carrying could end up in your back yard. Even if it makes it into orbit without a problem, that orbit tends to decay after time. This will bring the satelite back to Earth burning up in the atmosphere. There’s no certainty that the radioactive fuel will burn up upon re-entry. Once again littering your back yard. There have been some instances of nuclear fuel being used in space, but most of the time it’s for a mission that is far from the Earth, with no return expected. There may be other reasons as well. Solar flares for instance wreak havoc on electronics. Just a little something more for you to investigate.
I think you will find that many of the earth orbitting satellites used a form of nuclear power. Recently some debris which fell to earth was found to be radioactive from the remains of fuel cells. As for exploration craft landed on other planets I would imagine the weight of the shielding required would be too great to make it viable.
