NASA boss: China could claim the moon as its own territory and BAN US astronauts from touching down

A NASA chief is raising red flags about China’s ambitions to reach the moon.

In a new interview, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says he and others within the science agency are increasingly concerned about what the country plans to do when it gets to the moon.

Nelson believes that China could try to corner the market in resource-rich locations on the moon’s surface and try to block the US and other countries seeking to reach the lunar object.

“There is the potential that China could do damage on the moon,” said another official who monitors the “space race.”

Concerns come less than a month after three Chinese astronauts returned from a six-month trip where they helped build and open a new space station.

In an interview with politicalNelson said he and others are concerned that the communist nation will try to claim territory on the moon upon its arrival.

“It is a fact: we are in a space race,” said the NASA administrator who was appointed by US President Joe Biden in 2021.

‘And it’s true that we’d better be careful that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for them to say, “Stay away, we’re here, this is our turf,” Nelson continued.

The NASA chief said he fears China will follow his strategy when it comes to reclaiming land and water in the South China Sea.

“If you doubt it, look at what they did to the Spratly Islands,” Nelson said.

China has claimed the very happy Spratly Islands and have used the islands to house weaponry and other structures possibly large enough to store ballistic missile launchers.

NASA and China’s space program are working overtime to get to the moon in the next few years and have spent the past few months working toward the goal.

The 26-day Artemis I mission from November to December was deemed a success, as an Orion capsule orbited the moon, bringing NASA one step closer to its goal of building a human presence on the moon.

Estimates say that NASA could see success in its mission as early as 2025.

Nelson’s concerns could be exasperated by congressional approval of a budget that did not include the full funding requested by the agency.

Although the agency did not receive the full budget, Nelson said they will continue to fund all of their major assets, including the upcoming Artemis II and Artemis III lunar missions.

The main concern is that delays to any of NASA’s programs in the coming years could put the United States behind China.

“It’s very possible that they can catch up with us and absolutely surpass us,” Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno said last month.

“The progress they’ve made has been impressive, unbelievably fast,” Armagno said.

In the last few years alone, China has launched orbiters, landers and rovers that have reached the Moon and Mars.

“China in the last decade has had tremendous success and progress,” Nelson repeated. “It’s also true that your date to land on the Moon is getting closer and closer.”

Another key concern for security experts is that China’s broader space goals could include interfering with US-operated space systems.

A former commander of the International Space Station said he believes that the country that emerges victorious in the ‘space race’ has a lot to gain.

“On one level, it’s a political competition to show which system works best,” said Terry Virts, former commander of the International Space Station.

‘What they really want is respect as the best country in the world. They want to be the dominant power on Earth, so going to the moon is a way of showing that their system works. If they beat us back to the moon, it shows that they are better than us,” Virts said.

Virts believes that the Chinese government could work quickly to dominate space if given the chance.

“There is potentially damage that China can do to the moon,” Virts said.

‘If they install infrastructure there, they could potentially deny communications, for example. Having them there doesn’t make things any easier. There is real concern about Chinese meddling,” Virts continued.

Chinese officials deny any claims made by American space and security experts.

“Some US officials have spoken irresponsibly to misrepresent China’s normal and legitimate space efforts,” said Liu Pengyu, a Chinese embassy spokesman. “China firmly rejects such statements.”

Nelson said that with $24.5 billion approved for 2023, an increase of five percent over 2022, he believes NASA will have enough to cover “essential items.”

The goal of the next Artemis mission is to have it operational “within two years,” according to Nelson.

“Hopefully we can speed that up,” he said, sharing that the agency hopes to send a crew to orbit the moon by 2024.

However, that goal can be ambitious, as Nelson told Politico.

‘They tell me they can’t [speed it up,] that they need that time to redo them and recertify and all of that process to use the avionics from the Artemis I in a cost saving move.

The ultimate goal is for astronauts to return to the moon by 2025.

“All of that is going to depend on two things,” Nelson told Politico.

‘The space suits, are they ready? And is SpaceX ready? And I ask myself the question every day: ‘How is SpaceX progressing? And all of our managers tell me that they are hitting all their milestones.’

“God willing,” Nelson said when asked if the United States will return to the moon before China.

However, not everyone is completely concerned that the US could find itself in a full-blown ‘space race’.

“I have doubts,” said Victoria Samson, who works with the Secure World Foundation.

Samson pointed to the Outer Space Treaty and claims that the countries that signed it, including the US and China, cannot make claims to the moon.

However, he agreed that the two countries could fight over limited resources.

“That’s where we’ve made the case that you need to engage with China,” Samson said.