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.

Trying to get a nuclear reactor on the surface of the moon is going to take time – maybe much longer more than NASA wants. Julia Musto reports

NASA has set a 2030 deadline to build a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon. It’s an ambitious but potentially achievable goal that could transform space exploration, experts tell WIRED.