Email
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
Link<\/p>\n
\n Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has directed the agency to fast-track plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon.\n <\/p>\n
\n Expediting work to place a reactor on the lunar surface to help power moon exploration efforts would keep the United States ahead of China<\/a> and Russia, both of which have \u201cannounced on at least three occasions\u201d a joint effort to develop such a project by the mid-2030s, according to a directive dated July 31 and obtained by CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n If another country were to achieve this feat first, it could declare a \u201ckeep-out zone\u201d that would effectively hold the US back from its goal of establishing a presence on the lunar surface through NASA\u2019s Artemis program<\/a>. The agency\u2019s Artemis III mission, currently planned for 2027, is expected to return humans to the surface of the moon for the first time in more than five decades. But the program still has several milestones in order to reach that target.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon,\u201d Duffy told reporters at a news conference Tuesday on drones. \u201cAnd to have a base on the moon, we need energy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Duffy\u2019s orders also call for an executive within 30 days to lead the program. Politico<\/a> was the first to report the new directive.\n <\/p>\n \n NASA has previously worked on similar projects in collaboration the Department of Energy and others, including a fission surface power project that would provide the moon with at least 40 kilowatts of power \u2014 enough to continuously run 30 households for 10 years, according to the NASA website<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n A nuclear reactor would assist with long stays on the moon, but the newly unveiled plans do not yet specify when a base could be built. Lunar surface power needs are at least 100kWe for long-term human operations, according to estimates cited by NASA.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEnergy is important, and if we\u2019re going to be able to sustain life on the moon, to then go to Mars, this technology is critically important,\u201d Duffy said.\n <\/p>\n![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-05-14t144246z-1477111082-rc2qheayq6ew-rtrmadp-3-usa-transportation-duffy.JPG\")
<\/p>\n