NASA chief warns China could claim territory on the moon if it wins new 'space race' - Fox News

NASA's apical head says the U.S. is successful a caller space race with China and warned that a Chinese triumph could effect successful the state claiming to "own" immense swaths of the moon.

NASA head Bill Nelson, a erstwhile astronaut and Florida senator, warned that it is wholly imaginable that China would cordon disconnected the astir resource-rich areas of the lunar aboveground if they found a beingness determination first, Politico reported Sunday.

"It is simply a fact: we’re successful a abstraction race," helium told the outlet. "And it is existent that we amended ticker retired that they don’t get to a spot connected the satellite nether the guise of technological research. And it is not beyond the realm of anticipation that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’"

Nelson went connected to constituent to China's aggression successful the South China Sea, wherever the Chinese authorities has routinely made claims of sovereignty implicit areas belonging to different countries.

NASA SPACE CAPSULE ROUNDS THE MOON

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft stands connected motorboat pad 39B arsenic last preparations are made for the Artemis I ngo astatine the Kennedy Space Center connected November 15, 2022. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

China's burgeoning abstraction programme succeeded successful establishing a caller abstraction station earlier this year. Meanwhile, NASA has been moving connected its Artemis bid of missions to the moon.

FOLLOWING 'UNEXPECTED LOSS' NASA SAYS ORION SPACECRAFT COMMUNICATIONS RESTORED

Artemis I launched successful November for a 26-day ngo taking pictures of the lunar surface, and the Artemis II and III missions are advancement toward much established enactment connected the moon.

NASA has besides focused connected Mars, however, sending aggregate robotic rovers to the satellite to stitchery information connected the planet's soil, ambiance and imaginable landing zones for a manned mission.

On the sixth time of the Artemis I mission, Orion’s optical navigation camera captured black-and-white images of craters connected the Moon below. (NASA Johnson)

In this photograph provided by NASA the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I ngo splashes down successful the Pacific Ocean aft a 25.5 time ngo to the Moon, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022. (NASA via AP)

Artemis I returned to world and splashed into the Pacific Ocean successful December.

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Chinese concern successful spaceflight and different rocket exertion comes amid an ongoing arms contention with the U.S. and Russia arsenic each 3 countries are presently processing hypersonic weapons.