Nasa boss warns China could take control of Moon’s mysterious side as major astronaut return mission is delayed again

NASA has pushed back the date of its next crewed mission to the Moon yet again, amid fears China could outpace the US to the lunar south pole.

Bill Nelson, who leads Nasa, has been vocal of his fears should China beat the US to the Moon.

Nasa

The delay ultimately delays the Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s south pole[/caption]

“My concern would be if China got there first and said, ‘This is our territory, you stay out’,” he told a committee hearing earlier this year, which intended to approve Nasa’s $25.4bn (£20.3bn) budget request for 2025.

“Obviously you don’t want to interfere with each other but don’t declare that this whole territory is suddenly yours.”

Artemis is Nasa’s Moon campaign, and involves four uncrewed and astronaut-assisted missions.

In January, Nasa said the next mission, Artemis II, would launch in September 2025 instead of late 2024.

Now the space agency has confirmed it is targeting a launch in April 2026.

The extension is supposed to lend time to engineers trying to fix issues with its next-generation Orion space capsule.

The uncrewed Artemis I flight in Orion in 2022 revealed the capsule posed “significant risks” after its heat shield wore away in more than 100 places.

The delay ultimately pushes back the Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts near the Moon’s south pole.

Instead of launching in September 2026, that mission is now planned for mid-2027.

Nelson has said the adjusted timeline should still allow the US to reach the lunar surface before its space faring rival.

China plans to ferry its own astronauts to the lunar south pole in 2030.

In June, the country successfully landed its Chang’e-6 lunar probe on the moon’s far “dark side” – a significant step in its three-part journey to gather data that will allow astronauts to return to the Moon in six years.