From Apollo to Artemis: A Second Space Race or Race for Humanity?

Graphic by Isabella Garcia.

What the world has deemed the “second space race" appears aptly named. In August, NASA fast-tracked its goal of landing a reactor on the moon by late 2029. As stated in The Wall Street Journal, this land-based reactor would contain a 100-kilowatt system that would not only have enough power to supply a modest neighborhood, but also be of unprecedented capacity for its size.

However, NASA will be racing against China and Russia, who have also been exploring the idea of jointly deploying nuclear energy to the moon, with their estimated timeframe being around 2030. Clearly, NASA’s goal is to arrive just ahead of Russia and China. 

The permanent nuclear reactor NASA hopes to stabilize on the moon would open up a world of new possibilities, including those that Hollywood has continuously tried to pursue, such as tourism, research, and more. A nuclear reactor would offer a sense of consistency that solar power, charged with batteries, simply can’t manage. To put this reactor into perspective, a two-week lunar night would generate a decade's worth of energy. It is no surprise that the US and China are racing for dominance and assertion authority on the moon once again. 

Not only would this reactor enable an array of new scientific and economic activities, but fission energy would also allow governmental and private companies to develop permanent settlements on this lunar territory. 

In addition to obstacles associated with the infrastructure of this reactor, lack of international regulation could pose problems. On Earth, there are norms regarding safety zones around reactors. These do not exist on the moon, and the political implications surrounding this issue have led to several concerns within NASA. In 2019, President Trump signed the 1967 Outer Space Treaty into law, which was additionally signed by China, Russia, and other nations. This treaty included a memorandum outlining how a reactor in space would be licensed. Needless to say, the process has yet to be attempted since the signing, leaving political actors currently in a “wait-and-see” stance. 

But what is making this a second space race? According to the acting head of NASA, China and Russia have a similar plan to the US: to build a permanent base for humans to live on the lunar surface. NASA fears that China and Russia “could potentially declare a keep-out zone” on the Moon, raising questions tied to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Planetary science specialist Dr. Barber observed, "If you build a nuclear reactor or any kind of base on the moon, you can then start claiming that you have a safety zone around it, because you have equipment there."

Although the symbolism of red, white, and blue is often perceived as American hegemony, Dr. Barber raised an insightful point that this “flash from the past” is disappointing and, quite honestly, concerning from the scientific perspective. He contends, "Competition can create innovation, but if there's a narrower focus on national interest and on establishing ownership, then you can lose sight of the bigger picture, which is exploring the solar system and beyond."

It would appear that the innate human instinct for survival of the fittest proceeds beyond Earth's atmosphere. Nevertheless, Jeremy Hansen, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, raised a point humanity should consider applying beyond this “space race”: 

“Collaboration needs to be the ultimate goal if eight billion of us are going to have a bright future on this planet…As we come around the far side, just having humanity stop for a moment and say, ‘Wow, look at what we can do when we work together,’ let’s just set goals to do a better job of that on this planet today,” Mr. Hansen said. 

Whether we want to accept it or not, a more efficient energy source is needed, and as noted by Dr. Sungwoo Lim,  

"Nuclear energy is not just desirable, it is inevitable."

Rather than approaching this lunar issue through a lens of nationalistic competition, humanity should be reminded of the ultimate goal: providing a bright future for the eight billion people who call Earth home. This approach opens the door to how humanity could function and thrive to life on a lunar landscape. The eight billion who hope to continue the existence of humanity should pursue the image Mr. Hansen painted, of coming around the far side of the moon, gazing upon the earth, and thinking, “Wow, look at what we can do when we work together.”