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.

NASA’s new directive aims to power the Moon’s shadowy regions—but skeptics wonder what’s really behind the rush. NASA wants to build a nuclear reactor on the surface of the moon—and fast.