The government of China now possesses something that no other humans have ever encountered — rocks and soil from the far side of the moon. The successful return of the Chang’e-6 lunar mission with the historic cache on June 25 was a scientific coup that further solidified China’s place as one of the world’s top space powers, rivaled only by the United States.
for bilateral cooperation with China or its agencies without authorization from Congress or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, effectively banning the space agency from routinely working with its Chinese counterpart.
-funded researchers the green light to apply for access. “We are going through the process right now with our scientists and our lawyers to make sure that the instructions and guardrails that the Chinese are insisting on … are not a violation of the law, the Wolf Amendment,” Nelson told CNN. “As of this moment, I don’t see a violation.” Any similar application to study the Chang’e-6 samples must pass the same vetting process, Nelson said.
’s Artemis program to beat Beijing in this second space race to land people on the moon. “Spaceflight is hard, but human spaceflight is especially hard,” Nelson said. “And magnitudes more difficult than a robotic landing.”