The reactor would launch to the moon by 2030, according to a directive by Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy that was sent to NASA officials in July and obtained by NPR. It's an ambitious target that has some in the scientific community concerned about high costs and a potentially unrealistic schedule.

Sean Duffy wants to fast-track putting a 100kw nuclear reactor on the moon, according to a directive he sent out Thursday. It would help win the "space race."

President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, has ordered NASA to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, just weeks after being named interim head of the space agency. Duffy’s appointment as NASA’s chief administrator came after Elon Musk’s pick for the post,