US, China Reportedly Want Same Moon-Landing Sites: “Could Be The First Potential Point Of Conflict Over Resources Beyond Earth”

Authored by Katie Hutton via TheMindUnleashed.com,

The United States and China are preparing for an embarrassing showdown in the event that both countries decide to land their respective lunar rockets on identical locations near the Moon’s south pole, which, according to the present plans, may very well transpire.

According to SpaceNews, both NASA and China’s space agency have discovered various landing locations that are comparable to one another for their respective lunar missions. These landing sites include the Shackleton, Haworth, and Nobile craters, which are situated close to the lunar south pole.

According to SpaceNews, both organizations may have selected these locations because of their elevated heights, favorable lighting conditions, and closeness to shadowy craters that have the potential to store lunar water ice. These factors may have contributed to their decision.

Futurism notes that it is currently unknown how the United States and China intend to deal with the possibility of a landing site overlap during their respective moon missions, which are scheduled to take off in the years 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The fact that more and more nations are considering sending astronauts to the Moon has created a brand-new problem for scientists to solve.

According to SpaceNews, the United States is in a difficult circumstance when it comes to space agreements with China as a result of a budget resolution insert defined as the “Wolf Amendment.”

The “Wolf Amendment” is a stipulation that was introduced in 2011 by then-representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) and severely restricts NASA’s ability to work with China in any capacity. The unwillingness of countries to play nice when it comes to space is undoubtedly going to cause many issues going forward in the Space realm. And some fear that this will usher in further Space militarization.

Despite the efforts of past presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump to participate in space negotiations with China, the conversations ultimately did not get very far. According to the findings of the report, the administration of President Joe Biden does not now have any apparent intentions to re-engage in the discussions.

Although the two nations’ options for landing locations on the moon aren’t exactly shocking, they might be a historic first nevertheless. And we should expect to see more instances like this in the future as tensions rise and humans continually venture into space.

“It is not hard to see why they both want the same spots,” space and law policy professor Christopher Newman told SpaceNews. “It is prime lunar real estate for in-situ resource utilization.”

“This could be the first potential point of conflict over resources beyond Earth,” he added.

Newman stated that in addition, on the basis of the fact that both sides had signed the Outer Space Treaty, they should, in principle, “accept the use of celestial bodies for peaceful purposes.”

“It will be interesting to see what happens,” Newman tells SpaceNews, adding that “a lot will depend on who gets there first.”

Folks, it looks like we could have a good old fashioned show down.