NASA chief Jared Isaacman expressed concerns that if China successfully lands on the Moon’s south pole before the United States, it could restrict access to crucial lunar resources. Speaking at the Off World conference in Houston on Wednesday, Isaacman highlighted China’s Chang’e 7 mission, which is aiming for Shackleton Crater. This location is particularly valuable due to its permanently shadowed regions, known as ‘cold traps,’ where ice and other essential materials may be found.
Isaacman’s statement comes in the backdrop of China delaying its Chang’e 7 mission last month. It is planning to become the second nation in the world to put its citizens on the Moon after the US’ 1972 mission. China’s lunar budget is unclear, but reports claim that it could achieve its goal of sending astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
The mission intends to gather unprecedented data about the lunar surface by using four different robotic vehicles: an orbiter, lander, rover and mobile “hopper”. “They are targeting the exact same location on lunar south pole,” said Isaacman, as per Ars Technica : “We may have dodged a bullet with the Chang’e 7 mission a couple of weeks ago because that would have gone to the Shackleton crater. “It has rovers, it has hopper drones like we now have in development but didn’t eight months ago, and could have potentially denied access to some of the most interesting spots,” Isaacman said. The NASA boss said China wanted to interact with the water ice on the Moon, learn from it, and recreate their own “Neil Armstrong-like moment” on Mars in the future. “If you come up short with who comes down the ladder first, the impact is felt around the world,” Isaacman said. China has been investing heavily to become a major space power, something that has been described by President Xi Jinping as an “eternal dream”.
