Public sentiment is largely negative and skeptical toward NASA's plan to deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon. Many commenters express frustration over the prioritization of this project amidst pressing social issues on Earth, such as homelessness and healthcare. Concerns about feasibility, safety, and the potential militarization of space are prevalent, while some humorous and sarcastic remarks indicate a critical view of the initiative. Overall, there is a strong call for addressing terrestrial problems before investing in lunar exploration.

NASA

US Government

The following submission statement was provided by /u/TheExpressUS:

---

Secretary of Transportation [Sean Duffy](https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/162382/transport-secretary-sean-duffy-cockpit) is expected to announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon in what a senior [NASA](https://www.the-express.com/news/space-news/174680/nasas-voyager-spacecraft-discovered-wall) official called a bid to "win the second space race."

---

 Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1mhv44m/nasa_to_announce_plans_to_build_nuclear_reactor/n6z09jk/

FuturologyBot

&gt;The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, according to POLITICO

Ah.  There's the real reason.

Red_Icnivad

I look around the world at the multiplying crises that threaten to overwhelm our future and I think, “if only the moon had nuclear power.”

naileyes

Man if we’re gonna blow this much money can we at least get a Gundam

Awingbestwing

Can't have universal healthcare, but sure.. A reactor on the moon, why the fuck not?

deadcom

With what budget? Can we send ICE to the moon since they’ve got billions to burn?

Detox208

With the cut billions of dollars and 4000 employees who just left? 

I was dismissive of the idea we'd go to the moon this decade, but hopeful it would happen by 2030-2031. Now the next flag planted on the moon by a human with be China's.

zephyy

“Watch for Hurricanes? Nah. Not like we’ll do anything about it anyway.”

Gunningham

My guess is they will just land an RTG and claim "mission acomplished".

Tropical_Geek1

Feel that China will get three working ones here before US even starts actually doing anything.

manyouzhe

Please don't tell me some knuckle head watched For All Mankind and thought this was a good idea. Because that's what it sounds like. 🤦‍♂️

Darklord_Bravo

A secret military base on the moon would be a good place to hide the Epstein list.

RLewis8888

The real question is, are they going to train nuclear physicists to be astronauts or take a bunch of astronauts and teach them nuclear physics?

yet-again-temporary

With what budget?  With what personnel?  Since DOGE and the Big Bullshit Bill, I cannot believe this plan is an earnest goal.  Instead, this seems more like a bombastic headline grabber to try to suck oxygen out of the ongoing Epstein-Trump dot-connecting everyone is FINALLY doing.  Trump is a pedo.  Release the unredacted files in full.

I_Enjoy_Beer

They’re totally going to accidentally blow up the moon, aren’t they?

ElderSmackJack

sweet, so how to they plan to keep the reactors within operating temp or they also ignoring the science of that?

Wingzero02

Didn't they literally just gut NASA's staff and budget?

BowlEducational6722

Bold plan when you consider that NASA doesn't even have enough money to build a lawnmower in a garage.

ChesterNorris

With what funding, and what scientists, though? Clowns thrash the entire US academic apparatus and then act like they can do a Kennedy and just declare they will do things in space.

eggnogui

I’ll believe it when they land another person on the moon again first.  And, with their current defunding, that’s going to be third Tuesday of never.

Craxin

Doesn't this sort of require a moon base with a staff? This all seems very, very dumb.

xRockTripodx

So would we be shopping water off the planet to the moon?

pebbleproblems

So they're going to spend money to put a reactor on the moon while simultaneously closing their cafeterias so their smart people can't eat lunch.  /BRILLIANT!!

Inquisitor_ForHire

… with what money? Didn’t you just cut NASA’s budget by eleventy-billion dollars?

IamMe90

So many people are going to die for absolutely jack shit

pulyx

And how are they planning to get it up there? An ACME catapult? Because they aren't launching any rockets to the moon with axing they got.

Xyrus2000

This title is so weird I'm afraid to read the article to find a weird justification of building a nuclear water heater on the space body that is known for its lack of water.

CV514

After this administration gutted NASA and other things to make America less competitive?  Good luck

tacotickles

We’ve reached the Bond Villain phase of this administration. Next we’ll hear about a secret base inside a volcano surrounded by a moat full of sharks with friggin’ laser beams on their heads.

omgirthquake

"The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, according to POLITICO"

So they are going to build the reactor in order to keep the Epstein files there?

Bicentennial_Douche

Nuclear reactors for off-Earth bases is going to be a given for any long term habitation.  Sure, you can have solar power as well, but just like on Earth you want to have a wide range of power generation options.

Plus, any potential base on Mars that is long term will pretty much have a mandatory need for a nuclear reactor.  Mars can have MONTHS long dust storms, making solar panels unreliable in inclement weather.

cylonfrakbbq

Well we're gonna something to throw the alien / emperor into at the end of the movie

lohivi

Is that where they are going to store Epstein files?

xortingen

I really think that this feels like a plan Gru has come up with

I am expecting the flip chart meme at any moment

twovectors

Because... solar panels would be too easy? 

The low gravity would make produced solar panel on the moon even more efficient due to the better cristalisation process environment.

MrPrivateObservation

Could we just get affordable Healthcare amd education that won't bankrupt us

Thugl1fe91

Show of hands who wants to live on the moon? Live on Mars? Personally I like breathing air, walking barefoot on grass, bird watching, driving to and fro. Being able to eat food that isnt freeze dried whatevers.drinking water. Living in reality. Spending billions of dollars,wasting the time and money to even dream of such nonsense is nuts. If anyone wants to claim land no one owns on the dark side of the moon, too late pink Floyd beat ya too it, at least they made something out of the moon worth listening to, made money off of and own the rights too. The moon,mars, if they can get there let em have it. As of yet, can't even get a lunar to land safely. .. why would anyone let a fox newsreporter interm at that. Decide that uranium should be shuttles to the moon. China and Russia will do and say anything to get us to waste billions of dollars just to say they did.

NervousSchedule7472

Thats all well and whatever but how the fuck do they plan to get the power back down to earth where the actual customers are? Do they think that many people are going to live on the moon?

DolliGoth

SpaceX is sure to get a nice, fat contract to do all of it. NASA is a shell of its former self.

Otterz4Life

Secretary of Transportation [Sean Duffy](https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/162382/transport-secretary-sean-duffy-cockpit) is expected to announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon in what a senior [NASA](https://www.the-express.com/news/space-news/174680/nasas-voyager-spacecraft-discovered-wall) official called a bid to "win the second space race."

TheExpressUS

Can’t imagine how they’ll accomplish this when they’re driving a brain drain across the country

peskyghost

Create a "The Running Man" show on the moon. The contestants? Our wealthiest elites. That TV show would shatter records.

Capt_Murphy_

Sounds like the plot of a super villain  

Where is Scorpio when we need him?

In all honesty, these idiots can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. Very low expectations.

Bullmoose39

"Bridge to nowhere"?  nah eff that,  we got a "Nuclear reactor on the moon"!!

pentultimate

Meanwhile people literally just want food and healthcare

Bananacream3141592

I didn't know a new season of Space Force came out.  Sucks none of the original cast stayed around.

Lint47

Do you know how many nuclear reactors are lost to the sea, buried in glaciers (really), or just abandoned?

More than zero for each of those... and that's scary.

Next, the moon?

ExiledUtopian

We need more of those on earth to offset the data centers. Electric rates keep rising due to demand that outstrips supply and the need for infrastructure upgrades

i_am_voldemort

Isaac Asimov would have written a novel like "Chernobyl In The Dark Side of the Moon".

TheDerangedAI

“We choose to put a nuke on the moon by the end of this decade, and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because I am hard.” -Sean Duffy, probably

manbeardawg

The more I see stories out of the current administration I move between Idiocracy and now...that scene....from the 2002 release of The Time Machine where the "mining of the moon" does bad things....

They slashed NASA's budget and yet have the gall to do this

Purple_Patience_3300

Oh Hell, Let's Just Do What We Always Do – Hijack Some Nuclear Weapons And Hold The World Hostage, Yeah? Good.

MASTER_SUNDOWN

It’s amazing to me that any conscious human with an IQ above 70 can watch FOX News and believe it’s anything but awful badly presented fiction.

literalsupport

Who gave NASA the "*rights*" to build something on the Moon?

General_abby

These guys can't build a reactor in Florida. America is losing and losing badly.

bluddystump

Since we're already in the insanity of anything goes, why not try a space elevator. Aren't they theoretically possible with technology now? Couldn't do it before because of regulations,  but nobody cares about that anymore. 

Aloysiusakamud

Step 1) cut all the budgets.
Step 2) announce plans for the most expensive power plant in history. 

Fucking genius. 

fredandlunchbox

Didn’t they just cut NASA’s funding greatly? With what money do they think they will accomplish a world first?

badguy84

Hooray! That will solve inflation, racism, unemployment, and the wholesale gutting of the government and science! That will truly make Murrica Great Again!

DrColdReality

There are already RTG's on the Moon from the Apollo missions.  Guessing this is what happens when you have a media figure incharge of NASA instead of someone with an actual education.

tbryant2K2023

Why do I suddenly have a nostalgic desire to watch old episodes of Space:1999?

usesbitterbutter

This is a good idea because if there is a meltdown, the damage will be localised to the moon and the Earth will continue as normal.

JTG01

He said "we talked to an astronaut yesterday, who's on the moon, who's a soldier"..... No one cares though lol

WabaleighsPS4

I'll believe it when I see it loaded on a payload module being integrated onto a rocket.


Until then, wunderwaffen.

Still-Ambassador2283

Step 1: Destroy NASA

Step 2: Go to the moon

Step 3: Profit

rmatherson

This is hilarious how are we going to get it there with all the funding going away?

VirusNegativeorisit

Great. Cut NASAs budget and blow what remains on something useless.

voiceofgromit

All talks. No action.  
Show me a moon base first or it's just BS.

Steamdecker

[deleted]

We just want healthcare and the ability to retire….

pilot2969

What about moon tarrifs by the moon cheese empire?

FragrantExcitement

I'd much prefer they fast track new NPPs here on Earth.

the_fungible_man

Well, that big, beautiful, moon-sized *Coca~Cola* sign isn't going to power itself

lluciferusllamas

For what purpose? What would it power? Is it to power something on Earth? How would you transmit the power it creates to Earth? Through delusion?

The_Wandering_Ones

I realize people are ridiculing this and it seems ludicrous given NASA cuts, but the reality is that SMRs (small modular reactors) have been on the drawing boards for years without funding to start physical development. The feds are about to dump a load of funding to make SMRs a reality and space is one minor application. The immediate plan is to have them power AI data centers independent of the public power grid. The goal is to fit an SMR into a shipping container and make them readily deployable. Many aspects have already been developed and we are a few years from seeing (non military) SMRs up and running.

qgecko

This is just a con to pay a bunch of contractor buddies a lot of money for nothing.

sigep0361

This is putting America first. Every American wants this. This will bring down costs so much.

Nobodys_Loss

Since apparently a SPACE subreddit doesn't actually fucking follow space development anymore, this project is not new at all.  It's been sending out RFPs for years now for this.  This subreddit is turning into yet another frontpage 70IQ subreddit like all of the popular subs.

[NASA’s Fission Surface Power Project Energizes Lunar Exploration](https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/glenn/nasas-fission-surface-power-project-energizes-lunar-exploration/)

Shredding_Airguitar

No money for education or health, but this is a priority worth highlighting by your overlords.

3_of_7

In this thread: people who don't understand that we should probably do this regardless of the current political environment and reap the long term benefits of whatever scientific advancements are needed to make it possible.


Edit: in the string of comments under my comment - what I described in my original comment.

NeedAVeganDinner

How and why? NASA's budget is severely cut and I don't think we've built anything on the moon beyond a couple of golf tee-offs. Ohhhhhh.... Makes sense now. Trump wants new golfing experiences and worries it wont get done before his death, so they're doing everything they can to make it happen.

Zealousideal_Cup416

My unscientific hot take. How would you maintain cooling a reactor on the moon? What would be used as a readily accessible coolant? I feel as though this is not feasible until the cost of launching tonnage into space drastically decreases.

ElectricChocoDad

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|-------|---------|---|
|[C3](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6zlp7p "Last usage")|[Characteristic Energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characteristic_energy) above that required for escape|
|[DoD](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6z2hyw "Last usage")|US Department of Defense|
|[ESA](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6ywc73 "Last usage")|European Space Agency|
|[EVA](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n71kvw1 "Last usage")|Extra-Vehicular Activity|
|[FAR](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n70bn34 "Last usage")|[Federal Aviation Regulations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aviation_Regulations)|
|GTO|[Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit](http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/20140116-how-to-get-a-satellite-to-gto.html)|
|[HEOMD](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6yl72l "Last usage")|Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA|
|[HLS](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n736nce "Last usage")|[Human Landing System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program#Human_Landing_System) (Artemis)|
|[IAC](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6zgrlw "Last usage")|International Astronautical Congress, annual meeting of IAF members|
| |In-Air Capture of space-flown hardware|
|IAF|[International Astronautical Federation](http://www.iafastro.org/)|
| |Indian Air Force|
| |Israeli Air Force|
|[ILC](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n722nwk "Last usage")|Initial Launch Capability|
|[KSC](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n73lz85 "Last usage")|Kennedy Space Center, Florida|
|[RFP](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6zlavm "Last usage")|Request for Proposal|
|[RTG](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n74pnc7 "Last usage")|Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator|
|[Roscosmos](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n73pgtr "Last usage")|[State Corporation for Space Activities, Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscosmos_State_Corporation)|
|[SLS](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6zwa99 "Last usage")|Space Launch System heavy-lift|
|[SRB](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n72voik "Last usage")|Solid Rocket Booster|
|[ULA](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n6ywc73 "Last usage")|United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture)|

|Jargon|Definition|
|-------|---------|---|
|[ablative](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n73o60r "Last usage")|Material which is intentionally destroyed in use (for example, heatshields which burn away to dissipate heat)|
|[hydrolox](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n736nce "Last usage")|Portmanteau: liquid hydrogen fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer|
|[methalox](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n736nce "Last usage")|Portmanteau: methane fuel, liquid oxygen oxidizer|

|Event|Date|Description|
|-------|---------|---|
|[Amos-6](/r/Space/comments/1mhr83x/stub/n72voik "Last usage")|2016-09-01|F9-029 Full Thrust, core B1028, ~~GTO comsat~~ Pre-launch test failure|

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

----------------
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Decronym

Great if we can actually do it. No more vaporware plz.

Potato_Octopi

With what money? I mean we can’t waste money on science when the president is worried about mud in the garden

Bacchuswhite

Headlines out of our government sound like some shut out of North Korea anymore. What the fuck even is this shit

CommanderofCheeks

When you destroy all relationships in the world and you have nowhere to outsource your nuclear reactor to so you decide to put it on the moon without any consideration of how people will work and live up there.

Richlandsbacon

Gonna work great after demolishing NASA’s budget

ComfortableAbject416

Our country is a fucking cartoon with this administration.

Chiperoni

We can't even land on the moon with scientific equipment let alone a nuclear reactor

Woodisbest

How tf do you use the energy it creates without expending more energy than it generates to bring it back to earth? This confuses me.

slickrasta

I'd love someone in a presser to ask DT why we need a nuclear reactor on the moon right now.

Roxysteve

Maybe build a few new ones here first just to get some practice?

pi22seven

Oh yeah? You and what National Aeronautics and Space Administration?

5akul

Andy chance we can get a nuclear reactor for each state? It would be great to have cleaner power than coal and natural gas.

DreadPirate777

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't a nuclear reactor be a complete waste on the moon without a massive quantity of water? Is there another way we can generate electricity from reactors other than steam?

Jazz7770

Idk why we need it but this sounds like the sci-fi future I want so let's get it started.

One_Doubt_75

Guarantee this is some grift meant to siphon taxpayer money to trumps allies.

blinksystem

And then?  How are they going to get it there on NASA’s $2 budget?

Buchaven

NASA's plans to deploy a nuclear reactor on the Moon aims to support a sustainable human presence, amid international competition for lunar resources.

NASA Lunar Nuclear Reactor Plans

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Public Sentiment Summary

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