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.

Signed by the current Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, NASA Headquarters released a plan that calls for creating a new position, the Fission Surface Power Program Executive, who would oversee this effort, working to award contracts within the next eight months to up to two industry providers to push forward this effort.

Placing an atomic energy source on the lunar surface is “not science fiction,” experts say, but does pose technical challenges.