Is it really possible for a country to take over Moon? Or declare Moon as its own territory? NASA accusations suggest so.
On Saturday, NASA chief Bill Nelson said in an interview that China could someday land on the moon. He also claimed that Beijing might declare Moon as its own territory.
As per Nelson, China will complete the construction of its own Moon station by 2035. The country will then be able to launch several lunar missions.
China is planning to land on Moon and the NASA chief admitted that the US space administration has been “very concerned” about the country’s agenda to take over the natural satellite.
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“We must be very concerned that China is landing on the Moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out’,” NASA Administrator Bill said.
Nelson also said that China’s space programme was a military one. He further suggested that China had stolen ideas and technology from others.
China rejected the accusations
In response, China says it has always called for the building of a community of nations in outer space. And rejected the accusations and called NASA’s chief claims an irresponsible smear.
In recent years, China has stepped up the pace of its space programme, with a focus on Moon exploration.
China made its first lunar uncrewed landing in 2013 and expects to launch rockets powerful enough to send astronauts to the moon towards the end of this decade.
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Zhao Lijian, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said, “This is not the first time that the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ignored the facts and spoken irresponsibly about China.”
“The US side has constantly constructed a smear campaign against China’s normal and reasonable outer space endeavours, and China firmly opposes such irresponsible remarks,” he added.
He added that China has always promoted the building of a shared future for humanity in outer space and opposed its weaponisation and any arms race in space.
As far as NASA is concerned, its Artemis programme plans to send a crewed mission to orbit the Moon in 2024. Also planning to make a crewed landing near the lunar south pole by 2025.
On the other hand, China is planning uncrewed missions to the Moon’s south pole later in this decade.
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