NASA chief Bill Nelson announced that the United States is concerned about the Chinese lunar program.
In a speech at a meeting of the US Senate Appropriations Committee, Nelson described the US lunar program as one of the most important areas of the agency's current activities. He said: "It is clear that the lunar program is one of the first priorities in light of the geopolitical conditions we are experiencing regarding the space race."
He added: "The reason we go to the other side of the moon (the South Pole) is, as far as we know, the presence of ice in the rocky cracks on the dark side of the moon." He went on to say: “If there is already a reserve of hydrogen and oxygen, then there is talk of a ‘precious resource’.”
“This is why China is also heading to Antarctica,” Nelson said. “I have expressed my concerns about that publicly, and there is nothing new about this.”
According to information provided by Nelson, the United States takes into account Beijing's actions in the South China Sea when evaluating Beijing's lunar program. He said Beijing is forcing others out of the South China Sea, including by creating artificial islands and reefs and then using them for military purposes. He pointed out, “You can tell where someone is going based on where they went before.”
It is noteworthy that at the beginning of this May, China launched the Chang'e-6 automatic space station to collect soil samples from the dark side of the moon for the first time in history. The "Apollo" crater, located in the Antarctic basin "Itkin", was chosen as the landing site on this side. The probe successfully reached lunar orbit.
It actually is concerning!
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