NASA’s Administrator Believes That China Could Claim the Moon as One of Its Territories

NASA’s Administrator Believes That China Could Claim the Moon as One of Its Territories
SHARE

There’s no wonder why NASA is eager to send humans to the Moon once again. We’re talking about the Earth’s only natural satellite and also the fifth-largest moon in the solar system. It is also the largest natural satellite relative to the size of the planet it orbits. The Moon has a number of unique characteristics that make it special and interesting.

Not many people know that the Moon has a number of important effects on the Earth, including its influence on the tides and the length of the day. The Moon’s gravitational pull also affects the Earth’s rotation, which causes the length of a day to increase gradually over time.

China will claim the Moon as one of its territories if it sends humans there faster than the US will

In an interview with Politico and as Insider has spotted, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warns that the Chinese military expansion occurring in the South China Sea indicates what could happen to our natural satellite.

Bill Nelson explained, as Insider quotes:

It is a fact: we’re in a space race. And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’

If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to land humans on the Moon by 2025, with the goal of establishing a sustained presence on the lunar surface and paving the way for future exploration of Mars. The Artemis program will use the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft to transport astronauts to the Moon.

While humans landing on the Moon wouldn’t be an entirely new idea, no astronaut has ever laid foot on Mars.


SHARE

Even since he was a child, Cristian was staring curiously at the stars, wondering about the Universe and our place in it. Today he's seeing his dream come true by writing about the latest news in astronomy. Cristian is also glad to be covering health and other science topics, having significant experience in writing about such fields.

Post Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.