LUNARTICS

No, China is Not Trying to Take Over the Moon, Spokesman Says

“We must be very concerned that China is landing on the moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out,’” NASA chief Bill Nelson said on Saturday.

Over the weekend, American NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave an interview to a German newspaper in which he warned, “We must be very concerned that China is landing on the moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out,’” prompting a dissenting response from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman. “This is not the first time that the head of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ignored the facts and spoken irresponsibly about China,” Zhao Lijian told Reuters. “The U.S. side has constantly constructed a smear campaign against China’s normal and reasonable outer space endeavors, and China firmly opposes such irresponsible remarks.” China made its first lunar landing with an uncrewed mission in 2013. Last year, a top Chinese scientist said the country is aiming to send astronauts to the moon for the first time by 2030.