Nasa trials nuclear reactor to power settlement on Mars

Compact system designed to sustain long-term human colonisation

Nasa nuclear reactor
Nasa's compact nuclear reactor
(Image credit: Nasa)

Scientists have trialled a small nuclear reactor that could be used to sustain life on the uninhabitable surface of Mars, officials announced yesterday.

Nasa and the US Department of Energy have developed the nuclear fission reactor to power manned missions to the red planet or other potentially habitable worlds within the solar system, says Reuters.

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