NASA chief says China wants to claim moon for itself
2 Min Read
NASA chief claims China intends to claim the moon for itself and use its lunar missions for military purposes.
-
NASA chief Bill Nelson (NASA)
In an interview for the German news source Bild, NASA chief Bill Nelson said he is concerned about China's lunar missions because he believes Beijing intends to claim the moon for itself.
Nelson believes everyone should be concerned about Chinese space development because one day Beijing will reportedly land on the moon and declare, "it's ours now and you stay away."
The former US congressman and NASA administrator went on to say that Chinese lunar missions will be "military" and that Beijing will use its moon base to examine the feasibility of taking down other countries' satellites.
While Nelson commended China's overall accomplishments in space exploration after launching numerous gadgets to the moon, he quickly moved to belittle the achievements by suggesting they were based on technology Beijing allegedly "stole" from other countries.
The NASA administrator did not clarify which countries he was thinking of, nor did he provide any proof to back up any of his allegations.
China has announced that it intends to not only send people to the moon by 2025 but also to establish a presence there by 2035, in collaboration with Russia. The US has similar ambitions, which involve the creation of a lunar outpost, as well as a space station circling Earth's satellite. The latter might be used to refuel and launch spacecraft to Mars, another target for NASA.
Notably, neither the US nor China has mentioned employing a lunar outpost for military objectives, despite the fact that several US military projects suggest that attempts to militarize space exist in clear violation of international accords.
