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Earlier this week, NASA Administrator Sean Duffy revealed an ambitious goal: He wants the U.S. to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030. He described it as a way to one-up China, which had outlined plans to construct a lunar nuclear reactor by 2035.
But what purpose would the reactor serve? And is putting one on the Moon even legal?
Michelle L.D. Hanlon, a space lawyer at the University of Mississippi, explains how a decades-old United Nations resolution gives countries the green light to build one on the Moon. In fact, NASA has been working on the science of constructing a lunar reactor with the Department of Energy for years, so the idea isn’t new. But it isn’t just about having a power source for a lunar base. Being the first to break ground is a big deal.
Space law – much of which originates from a 1967 U.N. treaty – can be a little fuzzy. Technically, nobody can make a territorial claim on the Moon. However, countries do have to give each other some personal space. Putting up a permanent structure like a nuclear reactor would effectively give its owner clear, legally defensible access to that area. On the Moon, where the prime spots to build a lunar base are all concentrated in one region, this is huge.
As Hanlon puts it: “The future of the Moon won’t be determined by who plants the most flags. It will be determined by who builds what, and how. Nuclear power may be essential for that future.”
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