“China has made extraordinary advances, especially in the last 10 years, but they’ve kept them very, very secret,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a speech about China’s military presence in space.
“We believe that most of China’s civil space missions are military programs. And I think we are actually in a race,” Nelson continued.
“USA SHOULD LAND ON THE MOON BEFORE CHINA”
The NASA Administrator stated that the US should land on the Moon again before China, as both countries are pursuing lunar missions.
First of all, Nelson said that if Beijing sends astronauts to the Moon, the US would face a great threat, and he emphasized that he was worried that Beijing might say, “We were here first, this is our territory, you stay out.”
He expressed hope that Beijing would “come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful uses.”
“CHINA CAN CLAIM THE MOON”
Nelson has previously said that the US is in a “space race” with China and warned that China could eventually claim to “own” the resource-rich region of the Moon.
In 2022, China’s space program established a space station in Earth orbit. Lunar orbiting and sample collection missions were carried out.
US AND CHINA’S SPACE RACE
The US plans to send astronauts back to the Moon in 2026 with the “Artemis III” mission. China says it hopes to send humans to the Moon by 2030.
Nelson said he was confident that the US would not lose its “global supremacy” in space exploration, but emphasized that China was still a real threat.
