In Race for Space Part 2, China is leading the run to the Moon and US seems worried

The United States and China are locked in an age-old rivalry again, competing for stakes as high as the Moon itself. The winner could claim most of the lunar rock resources for itself.

What: NASA top brass have expressed their concerns over Chinese ambitions to take over the moon one month after three Chinese astronauts returned from a six-month trip in which they helped build and open a new space station. 

NASA administrator Bill Nelson seems perturbed by potential “mischief China can do on the moon” and believes China could attempt to corner the market on resource-rich locations on the moon's surface and try to block out the US and other countries looking to make it to the lunar object.

Nelson demonstrated China’s lunar ambitions citing their establishment of military bases on the hotly contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, using the bases to house weaponry and install ballistic missiles.

The background: Nelson’s warnings come amid NASA’s failure to secure their required funding following the US Congress’s passing of the budget. However, NASA’s 26-day Artemis-I uncrewed mission to orbit the moon comes as a silver lining and the first big step toward NASA’s plan to put people on the moon and begin building a more permanent human presence as early as 2025. 

With the approval of $24.5 billion for 2023, a five percent increase over 2022, Nelson believes NASA will have enough to cover the 'essentials’ - which primarily includes the Artemis-II and Artemis-III missions.

China's upper hand: China has launched several robotic rovers and landers over the last few years, including an orbiter, lander, and rover that reached Mars and for the first time ever, even the far side of the moon.

The US military has been on red-alert over the potential security ramifications of China’s advances into deep space, and has also expressed rising concerns about the development of rival space technologies that could harm American satellites.

China speaks: Though US representatives grow skeptical about the aggressive Chinese expansion spaceward, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington claims otherwise.

What now: The race to the moon between the US and China is getting tighter and the next two years could determine who gains the upper hand.