NASA chief is worried about China getting back to the moon first

Published May 6, 2024 at 9:13 AM EDT

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on May 1, 2024, in his office at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Nelson says the U.S. is in a space race with China to get back to the moon.

On Friday, China launched it's Chang'e-6 mission carrying a probe to the far side of the moon to gather samples and bring them back to Earth. If successful, it would be a first, for ANY country.

The race to get astronauts back on the moon is in full swing. The US has serious competition. China wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Other countries are in the race, too.

If the U.S. stays on schedule it will get humans back on the moon before anyone else, as part of NASA's Artemis program. That's a big if. But NASA is making progress.

The space agency's making a bit of a bet, and mostly relying on private companies, mainly Elon Musk's SpaceX .

With limited resources and facing a more crowded field, it's unclear if the U.S. will dominate space as it once did.

Host Scott Detrow talks to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about what he is doing to try to keep the U.S. at the front of the race back to the moon.

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