In May, reports emerged that Russia was tentatively planning to start flight-testing https://interestingengineering.com/russia-might-send-nuclear-powered-space-tug-to-jupiter-by-2030">a nuclear space tug, called Zeus, by 2030, with a view to eventually sending it to Mars.
Now, as SputnikNews reports, a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos space agency called Arsenal Design Bureau, has proposed a nuclear power plant project for a future Russian Mars base.
The project proposal suggests using technologies developed for the Zeus project to build a nuclear reactor on Mars.
Russia has been working on the idea of a nuclear-powered spacecraft since 2010, SputnikNews writes. A concept for the space tug was unveiled in 2019 at the MAKS International Aviation and Space Show outside of Moscow.
Last December came the announcement of a $56.5 million contract with the Arsenal Design Bureau for experimental design work for the Zeus space tug.
Now, the new proposal states that a reactor could be delivered to Mars aboard the Zeus space tug, where it would enter the red planet's surface and then land using a parachute system. Once activated, it could provide power to a Russian Mars base that would act as a habitat for future human explorers.
To read more, click here.