The United States is competing with China for a place on the moon. This was stated by the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Bill Nelson. He added that the US fears that Beijing could get ahead of them and claim the South Pole earlier.
“I’m worried that China will be there first and claim it as their territory and tell us don’t mess around.” leads RIA Novosti the words of the head of NASA, which he said on Thursday, April 27, at a hearing in the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives of Congress.
Nelson added that the Americans are flying to the moon for peaceful and scientific purposes. Interest in this particular part of the Earth’s satellite is caused by the presence of water there in the form of ice.
Nelson has previously said repeatedly that Washington is in a space race with Beijing and has warned Congress that insufficient funding could be a “disaster” for US leadership in space.
In June 2023, the United States is going to send the PRIME-1 probe to the south pole of the moon, which will search for water. At the end of 2022, a test unmanned flight around the moon took place; NASA intends to carry out its manned version at the end of next year.
In November 2020, the Chang’e-5 probe delivered soil samples from the Moon to Earth. China plans to land a Chinese crew on the moon by 2030.
