Following the recent presidential directive on America’s space program, on Jan. 13, NASA, now led by Trump appointee Jared Isaacman and the Department of Energy signed an agreement to develop a lunar surface nuclear reactor for use on the Moon. “Under President Trump’s national space policy, America is committed to returning to the Moon, building the infrastructure to stay, and making the investments required for the next giant leap to Mars and beyond,” said Isaacman. “Achieving this future requires harnessing nuclear power. This agreement enables closer collaboration between NASA and the Department of Energy to deliver the capabilities necessary to usher in the Golden Age of space exploration and discovery.”
All this is well and good, and no doubt could—and should—be accomplished. The problem is the timeline and the shape of U.S. space infrastructure, including the condition of NASA.The timeline, of course, has been set by China and Russia, which have been working on a lunar return mission for well over a decade. This includes the placement of a nuclear reactor on the Moon to support the envisioned International Lunar Research Station which they intend to start building in 2030. Now, with Trump’s somewhat elusive American First agenda, he intends to beat them there in “warp speed”; what he is up against is natural law, something he would prefer to ignore.
First of all, the United States, which has let its nuclear industry dwindle for decades, must build a reactor suitable for the difficult conditions existing on the Moon. Even the Russians, which have, undeniably, the most developed nuclear industry in the world, are still dealing with the issue of cooling such a reactor. The U.S. has given itself five years to accomplish this, a feat requiring a great deal of optimism. In addition, the program will have to develop a rocket capable of delivering something of the size and weight of even a small nuclear reactor, which is not currently available.
