BGU Professor’s Idea Could Change NASA’s Energy Plan
BGU Professor’s Idea Could Change NASA’s Energy Plan
January 4, 2023
The Times Of Israel — With NASA mulling nuclear reactor to generate energy, Ben-Gurion University expert says his idea would produce same amount of power with six times less mass.
According to calculations made by Emeritus Professor Jeffrey Gordon of Ben-Gurion University’s Solar Energy and Environmental Physics Department, this would require six times less mass to produce the same amount of energy than the best nuclear option. He states that his plan would completely and continuously supply oxygen-producing facilities with power, with a sufficient number of panels always being exposed to the sun.
Prof. Jeffrey Gordon in his lab at BGU’s Solar Energy and Environmental Physics Department.
Gordon was asked to speak at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio after publishing his vision in the academic journal Renewable Energy earlier this year.
“We discussed it and it was stimulating,” Gordon said, explaining that solar researchers at the Glenn campus were competing with other scientists pushing for a nuclear solution.
“NASA wants a reliable, long-lifetime, minimum mass system,” he said. “Reliability comes even before cost.”
In the long run, however, NASA will require more energy to mine the lunar surface for metals to be utilized in lunar building, extract water, which is present on the moon in various stages, and separate those metals from oxygen, which accounts for around 45% of the stony deposits.
“I developed a concept and performed all the quantitative estimates that an engineering staff at a space agency would want to review,” Gordon said.
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