This will happen if Beijing wins a new space race with the United States, Bill Nelson believesWASHINGTON, January 2.
/tass/. The Chinese authorities can allegedly claim their rights to the territory on the Moon if they win a new space race with the United States. This opinion was expressed by the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Bill Nelson in an interview with Politico published on Sunday.
In his opinion, the United States is participating in a new space race with China. If Beijing wins it, it can claim ownership of vast areas of the Moon, the head of NASA claimed. China, he believes, will take the most resource-rich areas of the lunar surface if it is the first to gain a foothold on the Earth's natural satellite. "It's a fact: we are participating in a space race. And it's true that we'd better take care that they don't get to some place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is possible that they will say: "Do not approach, we are here, this is our territory," Nelson claimed.
He believes that the basis for such statements is the situation with disputed islands in the South China Sea. "If you doubt this, look at what they have done with the Spratly Islands," added the head of NASA. He is convinced that the United States, as planned, will send its astronauts to the moon in 2025. Nelson expressed concern about the pace of China's preparations for the landing on the satellite. "Over the past decade, China has made tremendous strides and achievements," he said. "It's also true that their moon landing dates are getting closer and closer." "And there are a lot of places on the south pole of the Moon that are suitable for, as we now believe, collecting water and other things," said the head of the department.
At the same time, Beijing refutes such statements. "Some American officials speak out irresponsibly in order to distort China's normal and legitimate space activities," Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an interview with the newspaper. "China strongly rejects such statements." "Outer space is not a battlefield," he added.
Earlier, Roscosmos reported on the signing of an agreement between the governments of Russia and China on cooperation on the creation of an International Scientific Lunar Station (MNLS). Roscosmos and the Chinese National Space Administration in June 2021, within the framework of the Global Conference on Space Exploration (GLEX-2021), presented a roadmap for MNLS. According to the information provided, the construction of the station should be fully completed by 2035. From 2026 to 2030, two missions are planned to test landing and cargo delivery technologies, as well as return lunar rock samples to Earth. From 2031 to 2035, the parties will deploy infrastructure in orbit and on the surface of the Moon, including communication complexes, as well as electric power, research and other equipment.
According to the project roadmap, the station's transport infrastructure will include research and technical lunar rovers, as well as a jumping robot. The parties plan to equip the station with several smart mini-rovers designed to explore the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.
The Spratly Archipelago and the Paracel Islands have been the cause of the multinational conflict in the South China Sea for many years. The main parties involved in the dispute over the ownership of these territories are Vietnam and China. In addition to them, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines also claim partial or full claims to the islands. In addition to the strategic location at the crossroads of the sea routes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the value of the islands is also determined by the fact that, according to expert estimates, significant reserves of oil and mineral raw materials are concentrated on their shelf, the development of which each of the participants in this conflict seeks to begin.
