NASA Administrator Has “No Idea” Why China is Going to Far Side of Moon That is ‘Always in Dark’
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is being mocked for suggesting the far side of the moon is always “dark” and can’t explain why China is interested in exploring that part of the moon.
“What do you think the Chinese are trying to get at, at the back side of the moon?” Rep. David Trone (D-MD) asked Nelson at a congressional hearing last week.
“They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side which is always in dark. Uh, we’re not planning to go there,” he said.
The far side of the moon is not “always in dark” and gets sunlight, but it is not visible from the Earth because the moon is tidally locked to the Earth.
Trone followed up by asking, “And why not? What’s the benefit of doing so?”
“We don’t know what’s on the back side of the moon, so, uh, that would be something that they would discover,” the NASA administrator told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“But our decision is that it’s more profitable for us to go to the South Pole of the moon because that’s where we think the water is,” he added.
The Maryland congressman pressed Nelson on why China chose to go to the far side of the moon.
“Why do you think they made that decision? I’m curious,” Trone said.
“I have no idea,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s answer of having “no idea” why China has been venturing toward the far side of the moon is surprising because China’s first lunar sample-gathering rover reportedly extracted a sample of helium-3 from the moon in 2020.
Helium-3 is believed to be in abundance in that part of the moon due to that part being exposed to solar winds at a higher degree. China has been interested in mining helium-3.
Source:Washington Examiner
