Russia Plans to Build Nuclear Power Station on Mars

Russia is planning on having a nuclear power station on Mars by the year 2030. Russian scientist say that they have all of the plans and necessary technical drawing completed and are ready for construction work to begin. This will be the first extra-terrestrial nuclear power station and it will serve the permanent research camp which, Russian scientists believe, could be set up on Mars within the next 30 years. The station is being planned to be constructed in the mountainous areas of Mars, or possibly in one of the canyons. The station will produce enough power for future Russian missions to the planet to be fully self-contained and will not need more than six engineers to maintain. The main stumbling block now is how to deliver ready-made building blocks to a construction site 186.4 million miles away from Earth. The plan is that the heavier equipment will be delivered to Mars by an automatic lander - like the European Beagle which is now making its way to the Red Planet. The scientists say that more delicate goods will arrive in a manned spaceship. Its crew will build both the station and the research base for all future expeditions.