Transportation Secretary and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy outlined the space agency’s fast-track plan to build a nuclear reactor on the moon on Tuesday, The Hill reported.
“We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And we have a base on the moon, we need energy. And some of the key locations on the moon, we’re going to get solar power, but this fission technology is critically important, and so we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars studying,” Duffy said during a Department of Transportation (DOT) press conference.
“Can we do it? We are now going to move beyond studying, and we are going to be given direction to go,” Duffy added. “Let’s start to deploy our technology to move to actually make this a reality.”
Duffy said that the reactor will have to generate 100 kilowatts of output. “That’s the same amount of energy a 2,000-square-foot home uses every three days and half days. So we’re not talking about massive technology,” he stated. “We’re not launching this live.”
Politico reported: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator.
NASA has discussed a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by Politico — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut. The move also underscores how Duffy, who faced pushback from lawmakers about handling two jobs, wants to play a role in NASA policymaking.
“It is about winning the second space race,” said a NASA senior official, granted anonymity to discuss the documents ahead of their wider release.
President Donald Trump named Duffy as interim administrator in July after abruptly withdrawing the nomination of billionaire Jared Isaacman amid a spat with the nominee’s ally, Elon Musk.
“It’s about winning the second space race,” said a NASA senior official, granted anonymity to discuss the documents ahead of their wider release.
Space.com reported: NASA’s interim administrator says his call for the United States to put a nuclear reactor on the lunar service by 2030 is part of a new race to the moon.
Agency chief Sean Duffy made the remarks during a press conference titled “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (which Duffy also runs) on Aug.5. According to Duffy, the reactor is a part of a new space race, one with the ultimate goal of establishing a sustained human presence on the moon.
“We’re in a race to the moon, a race with China to the moon. And to have a base on the moon, we need energy,” Duffy told reporters in a response to a question about reports that surfaced earlier in the week about his ambitious directive to launch a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor to the moon by 2030.