The head of Nasa has warned of China bolstering its space capabilities by using civilian programs to mask military objectives, cautioning that Washington must remain vigilant. “China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space program is a military program. And I think, in effect, we are in a race,” Nelson added. He said he hoped Beijing would “come to its senses and…
Tag: Nasa
Moon’s resources could be ‘destroyed by thoughtless exploitation’, Nasa warned
Science and business are heading for an astronomical clash – over the future exploration of the moon and the exploitation of its resources. The celestial skirmish threatens to break out over companies’ plans to launch dozens of probes to survey the lunar landscape over the next few years. An early pioneer – Peregrine mission one – is set for launch this week. The aim of this extraterrestrial armada – largely funded through Nasa’s $2.6bn Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative – is to survey the moon so that minerals, water…
‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon
The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned. The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas. The contest between the US and China, he added, was intensifying and the next two years could determine which country achieves an advantage.…
Above and beyond: key events in 2022 that shaped space exploration
The year has been a blast in space exploration, from Nasa’s big step in returning to moon missions, to glimpses at the origins of the universe and hope that humanity could survive the doomsday scenario of an asteroid hurtling towards Earth. These are the events that shaped 2022 in space advances: Back to the moon Nasa hadn’t sent a crew-capable spacecraft to the moon for half a century when Artemis 1 blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral in November. Atop the mighty Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket…
Nasa criticises China after space rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth
A Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday, US defense department officials said, as they chided Beijing for not sharing information on the potentially hazardous object’s descent. US Space Command confirmed the Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian ocean on Saturday but referred any question regarding potential debris dispersal and impact location to China. The Long March 5B rocket was used last Sunday to launch an uncrewed spacecraft, named Wentian, carrying the second of three modules China needed to complete its…