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.

This is about space exploration. This is about this next phase,” Duffy, interim NASA administrator and ‘The Real World’ alum, said

The Trump administration wants a nuclear reactor on the moon by the end of the decade in a bid to beat Russia and China to colonization.