Re:NASA Revives Plan to Put Nuclear Reactors on Mars
by davedx on Wednesday July 05, 2017 @10:03AM
(#14702434)
You are correct. I updated my post with some battery calculations. Only enough battery energy for one night adds another Falcon Heavy of payload. The dust storms will be a huge intermittency problem too.
On the moon it would be. Half-month long nights mean you'd need a lot more batteries if you're making a permanent settlement and aren't at one of those spots on the south pole where you can always see the sun traveling along the horizon.
EDIT:
I think solar panels have gotten a lot lighter since the ISS went up and when I last did the math nuclear and solar were a lot closer.