Sean Duffy has entered the new age space race for America to be the first country to lay claim to our neighbor just outside of the ozone layer. The MTV former reality star and the newest interim head of NASA is already conjuring up grand ideas just weeks into his new gig—nuclear reactors on the moon.
“The first country to do so could potentially declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States from establishing a planned Artemis presence if not there first,” Duffy said during a press conference Tuesday.
As for who we’re racing, the “Real World” alumni said it’s our old pals China and Russia. “Since March 2024, China and Russia have announced on at least three occasions a joint effort to place a reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s,” Duffy explained in a separate directive.
While entering a questionable geopolitical race against our adversaries is one thing, just Duffy’s appointment to the position alone has turned some heads. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that the man who is now overseeing NASA in addition to the Department of Transportation was juggling his own Federal Aviation Association crisis.
Earlier this year, pilots and air traffic controllers lost communication for minutes due to technical issues at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. Following massive budget cuts and layoffs, the FAA was dealing with delays and a spike in safety concerns that are still not completely resolved.
And while Duffy should be looking in one direction to make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible, Politico reports, his new laundry list at NASA has politicians on Capitol Hill concerned.
“How does he figure out what the priority is? Is it the FAA, which has all kinds of problems, or NASA, which has all kinds of problems?” Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who is a former astronaut, told the outlet.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who likes Duffy, admitted that he is hoping for a prompt full-time replacement.
And as long as TV star Duffy has the reins in NASA, the balance at the U.S.’s hub for scientific and space exploration has others worried as well.
Related | Trump wants to go to the moon, but he’s sending NASA to the dump
With NASA’s budget for scientific research nearly halved in the name of cutting “woke” projects, more senior officials have also said their goodbyes to the program. In July, over 2,000 NASA officials—including seasoned astronauts and scientists—announced their exit from the program as Trump’s administration slashed the budget.
In other words, as Duffy takes his stand at NASA’s head, the question of how many space experts are actually around to make decisions is at the forefront of many others’ minds.