Taking nuclear energy to the Moon

Earlier this month, Sean Duffy, the acting head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announced an acceleration of the agency's Fission Surface Power program, with the ambitious goal of placing a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 that can produce 100 kilowatts of electric power. A surface reactor will be essential to enable sustained human exploration on both the Moon and Mars. However, an overly aggressive schedule could compromise both technical readiness and NASA's other scientific priorities.