Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute," Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SPbPU, and Honorary Doctor of the Polytechnic University, delivered a lecture entitled "Nuclear Energy for Space" to students and scientists in the White Hall.
Mikhail Kovalchuk discussed the early days of space exploration in the USSR, the Buran orbital spacecraft, the development of space nuclear energy, priority technological trends, innovative nuclear energy technologies, rocket engines, space materials science, and much more.
At the beginning of his speech, Mikhail Valentinovich emphasized how the USSR began the space era by launching the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. He also noted such Soviet achievements as the first human spaceflight; the first woman in space; the first human spacewalk; the first docking of two unmanned spacecraft; the first soft landing on the surface of another planet; the first manned orbital space station, Salyut 1; the joint manned flight of the Soviet Soyuz 19 and American Apollo spacecraft; the first multi-module long-term orbital station, Mir; and the first automatic landing of the reusable Buran transport spacecraft.
"Our greatest achievement was the development of a completely unique system: 38 years ago, our spacecraft flew into space completely automatically. Unmanned, it orbited the Earth several times and then entered the runway where the commission was stationed. But suddenly, the spacecraft veered off course. It turned out that its system had detected excessively strong crosswinds, and it automatically changed its approach trajectory and landed," noted Mikhail Kovalchuk.
After this story, our guest even showed a video of the ship's landing, and also emphasized other advantages of the Buran.
Mikhail Kovalchuk then moved on to the topic of space nuclear energy. The symbolic beginning of this era is considered to be the meeting of the "Three Ks" at the Atomic Energy Institute: Mstislav Keldysh, Sergei Korolev, and Igor Kurchatov. By the 1950s, the main advantages of nuclear power plants had already been identified.
Recently, by decision of the Military-Industrial Commission, Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, was appointed head of the priority technology area "Technologies for Direct Conversion of Thermal Energy into Electrical Energy and Electric Propulsion Based on Superconductivity." Direct conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy is the process of directly converting heat into electricity without an intermediate mechanical process. Our guest elaborated on this topic: "A nuclear power plant has nothing in common with nuclear nuclear technology. A nuclear reactor is simply a 'stove.' It produces temperature, heat. And we use that heat to generate electricity."
Nuclear power plants are the best way to generate electricity in space. That's why, as early as 1964, the Kurchatov Institute created the world's first space power plant with direct conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy—the Romashka converter reactor.
The Selena unmanned, self-regulating nuclear power station, based on direct energy conversion principles, is currently being developed. Adapting the SNPP principles to lunar conditions will allow for the creation of stationary lunar energy sources. Similar low-power nuclear power stations are also extremely important and in demand in the north and remote areas. They can operate independently, without human intervention, for up to 40 years.
Furthermore, Mikhail Kovalchuk explained that all new developments for use in space conditions at the Kurchatov Institute now undergo special testing under loads and at temperatures as close as possible to those in space.
At the end of his speech, Mikhail Kovalchuk answered all questions from the audience.
Federal and regional media also reported on Mikhail Kovalchuk's lecture at the Polytechnic University:
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