India plans to power some parts of the Chandrayaan II--its next unmanned mission to the moon-- with nuclear energy and the feasibility studies are being carried out by ISRO and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

 

"We are thinking of powering some parts of Chandrayaan II with nuclear power and it will power the spacecraft when it revolves aroung the dark side of the moon," Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, told media in Mumbai on Friday before accepting the degree of Doctorate of Science conferred on him at the 47th Convoction of IIT-Mumbai.

 

He said both Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and BARC are carrying out the feasibility studies on this, which will be useful for carrying out further experiments to use N-power for Chandrayaan II, he said.



Asked how safe it is to use nuclear power in the mission, he said "the safety aspects are being worked and safety is crucial when it is launched from ground level to the orbit."



"To work out the safety, we have to work on new technologies and the feasibility studies will help in developing those," Nair said.

 Asked whether laws relating to use of space will allow use of N-power, he said "we have to take utmost care in launching from to ground to the orbit and this aspect we will work out in future."

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