\n<\/p>\n
Insights from the The Guardian, BBC Global News podcast, and The Conversation<\/p>\n
China landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the moon\u2019s far side on Sunday in a landmark mission to collect lunar rock and soil samples<\/a> and return them to Earth.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first time any space agency has tried to return samples using remote-controlled spacecraft, as the only other moon rocks scientists have to study on Earth were gathered during the Apollo era, some fifty years ago, by American astronauts.<\/p>\n The historic Chang\u2019e 6 mission \u2014 no other country has landed spacecraft on the moon\u2019s far side<\/a>, and now China has done so twice \u2014 underscores China\u2019s power amid the new space race to establish permanent, crewed lunar bases.<\/p>\n China\u2019s space exploration successes have raised concerns in the US over its wider geopolitical goals: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has previously warned China\u2019s civilian space progress might conceal a military program<\/a> and that the US is in \u201ca space race,\u201d echoing the language used in the Cold War with Russia. Of particular worry is the moon: Nelson has said if China gets there first, they could shut out the US. The US and China<\/a> plan to set up lunar bases and that means they need access to resources, like water. While the international consensus is that no one can claim territory or resources on the moon, that\u2019s never been tested, a reality one public policy professor told The Guardian described as a \u201cwild, wild West.\u201d<\/p>\n While the \u201cspace race<\/a>\u201d narrative has gained momentum in the US, there is still a foundation of international collaboration in space exploration. The European Space Agency, for instance, participated<\/a> in the Chang\u2019e 6 moon mission. An ESA technical officer told the BBC Global News podcast that it was a \u201cpeaceful\u201d mission<\/a> with a \u201cpurely scientific\u201d goal: It\u2019s \u201ca journey that we\u2019re trying to go on together\u201d rather than a race, he said, and it\u2019s positive that \u201cthe achievements of one agency or one nation inspire the greater efforts of another.\u201d<\/p>\n Chang\u2019e 6 brings China closer to establishing a human base on the moon, something the US also seeks. While moon bases open new opportunities for science, a human lunar presence may have unintended repercussions, particularly on the far side, which has near-perfect conditions for radio astronomy. Radio astronomy could allow researchers to collect data from black holes and observe the \u201ccosmic dark ages<\/a>,\u201d the time before stars and galaxies existed. \u201cThe rush to build bases on the moon<\/a> could interfere with the very conditions that make the Moon so attractive for research in the first place,\u201d one astrophysicist warned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSIGNALS<\/h3>\n
US is concerned about China\u2019s space program<\/h3>\n
More unity than \u2018space race\u2019 narrative suggests<\/h3>\n
Human moon bases may have unintended consequences<\/h3>\n