In the (distant) future will we have to sign a passport when we land on the moon? This concern was voiced by NASA chief Bill Nelson in an interview with the German Bild, which was published on Saturday.
He said it is possible that China's goal in its lunar space project is not only to establish a permanent base, but to actually annex it to its territory.
"We should be very concerned that China lands on the moon and says 'this is ours and you will have to get away from here,'" he was quoted as saying by Bild.
The Chinese were quick to respond, of course, and the establishment media in Beijing defined his remarks as part of "colonialist and hypocritical thinking," designed to create unnecessary intimidation from China.
Bill Nelson, head of NASA, Photo: Reuters
Nelson, who also has a background in the field from the time before his appointment as head of the US space agency when he took part in the Columbia shuttle missions in the 1980s, said that "China's space program is a military plan", unlike the US plan, which is at least officially intended for research and development. Civil only.
He added that by 2035, China may already complete the establishment of a permanent base on the moon, then declare it a Chinese sovereign territory, which will likely cause a major headache for all jurists in the world, as international law never applies to the moon.
As you may recall, NASA also intends to return to the moon in human form as early as 2025, and as early as next August there will be an unmanned launch to the moon to test the feasibility of the move.
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