BEIJING听–听颁丑颈苍补听on Monday rejected as an irresponsible smear a warning from the chief of听狈础厂础听that聽颁丑颈苍补听might “迟补办别听over” the听尘辞辞苍听as part of a military program, saying it has always called for the building of a community of nations in outer space.
颁丑颈苍补听has stepped up the pace of its space program in the past decade, with exploration of the听尘辞辞苍听a focus.聽颁丑颈苍补听made its first lunar uncrewed landing in 2013 and expects to launch rockets powerful enough to send astronauts to the听尘辞辞苍听towards the end of this decade.聽
“We must be very concerned that聽颁丑颈苍补听is landing on the听尘辞辞苍听and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out’,”听狈础厂础听Administrator Bill Nelson told German newspaper Bild in an interview published on Saturday.
The U.S. space agency chief said听颁丑颈苍补‘s space program was a military one and that聽颁丑颈苍补听had stolen ideas and technology from others.
“This is not the first time that the head of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has ignored the facts and spoken irresponsibly about听颁丑颈苍补,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry.
“The U.S. side has constantly constructed a smear campaign against听颁丑颈苍补‘s normal and reasonable outer space endeavors, and聽颁丑颈苍补听firmly opposes such irresponsible remarks.”
颁丑颈苍补听has always promoted the building of a shared future for humanity in outer space and opposed its weaponization and any arms race in space, he said.
NASA, under its Artemis program, plans to send a crewed mission to orbit the听尘辞辞苍听in 2024 and make a crewed landing near the lunar south pole by 2025.
颁丑颈苍补听is planning uncrewed missions to the听尘辞辞苍‘s south pole some time this decade. – Reuters
