Transportation Secretary and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy outlined the house company’s fast-track plan to construct a nuclear reactor on the moon on Tuesday.
“We’re in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And to 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 million [of] dollars studying,” Duffy stated throughout a Division of Transportation (DOT) press convention.
“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 stated that the reactor should generate 100 kilowatts of output.
“That’s the same amount of energy a 2,000-square-foot home uses every three and a half days. So we’re not talking about massive technology,” he acknowledged. “We’re not launching this live.”
The plan seems to be Duffy’s first main directive since being chosen by President Trump to steer NASA on an interim foundation in early July. The choice got here after the president pulled his preliminary nominee, tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, days earlier than his affirmation vote.
In late July, NASA stated that almost 4,000 of its 18,000 workers would depart the company by two rounds of deferred resignation applications.
NASA has invested cash in nuclear reactor analysis, together with awarding three $5 million contracts in 2022 to corporations growing preliminary designs for a 40-kilowatt class fission energy system. Fission refers back to the follow of splitting atoms aside to create nuclear energy.
The acceleration of the plan is a part of the administration’s consideration to human spaceflight.
“But again, energy is important, and if we’re going to be able to sustain life on the moon, to then go to Mars, this technology is critically important. And I would just note that … we’re behind, right? If we’re, if we’re going to engage in the race to the moon and the race to Mars, we have to get our act together,” Duffy stated on Tuesday. “We have to marshal all of our resources, all of our focus on going to the moon, which is what we’re going to do.”
“And again, there’s a lot of things that NASA does, and a lot of people love a lot of the things that NASA does, but this is about space exploration, and this is about this next phase,” the interim NASA administrator acknowledged.
The information in regards to the moon reactor was first reported by Politico.
A memo just lately issued by Duffy and shared with The Hill on Tuesday outlines additional particulars of the trouble to make use of nuclear vitality expertise.
The memo says that the administration will designate a “Fission Surface Power Program Executive” who might be answerable for executing this system.
As well as, it would concern a request for the trade to submit proposals to be a part of this system. It plans to award contracts to as much as two corporations with the purpose of being able to launch by the primary quarter of fiscal 12 months 2030.
“Fission surface power (FSP) is both an essential and sustainable segment of the lunar and Mars power architectures for future human space exploration missions,” the doc states. “To properly advance this critical technology to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly.”
Rachel Frazin contributed to this report.
Up to date at 4:44 p.m. EDT
