According to The Guardian, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) prohibits Chinese citizens holding valid visas from participating in its projects. The move shows that the space race between China and the United States has intensified. The change of direction was first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by NASA.
"NASA has taken internal measures against Chinese nationals, including restricting physical and online access to our facilities, materials and networks, to protect the security of our work," NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said Wednesday.
Previously, Chinese citizens could participate in NASA projects as outside contractors or graduate students, but not as employees. However, on September 5, several stakeholders reported that they had been locked out of IT systems overnight and barred from attending in-person meetings. The space race between China and the United States is intensifying, and the United States may even lose the race to the moon.
The U.S. Artemis program, a continuation of the Apollo program from 1969 to 1972, aims to land on the moon in 2027, but costs and delays have hindered its implementation. China, on the other hand, wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030 and has recently successfully achieved its goal.
Former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told a congressional hearing on Wednesday: "Unless something changes, it is extremely unlikely that the United States will surpass the Chinese plan to land on the moon." A day later, NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy, the Trump administration's transportation secretary, responded: "We will go to the moon before China does."