A feverish Chinese-American conflict over the moon... a race to build a base

 Media reported that China wants to start building a base on the moon with the help of "lunar soil" within 5 years, in an attempt to precede this achievement in which it is competing with the United States.

The news comes just months after NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warned that China might want to claim resource-rich areas of the moon for itself.

China's plan to settle on the moon

At the first conference on the topic, more than 100 scientists from Chinese domestic universities gathered to discuss plans for a manned lunar base on Saturday, according to a report from the South China newspaper. Ding Liyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in an interview with the local "Changjiang Daily" newspaper that China may be ready to put the first brick on the moon within 5 years.

"We will use real lunar soil to make the first brick there on the surface of the moon," he added. Ding has been working on a robot called "Super Mason", which can turn lunar soil into a building block. These can be used to build habitable facilities on the moon using traditional Chinese construction techniques.

NASA plan on the moon

As for NASA, it has its own plan to build a permanent base on the south pole of the moon. The agency plans to mine resources such as water ice on the lunar surface in order to produce fuel, water and even oxygen on site.

But NASA does not have a clear timetable for building that base yet, as it has set an ambitious goal of landing astronauts on the moon in 2025, but construction may come years later.

China.. construction, then people

For China, they seem to plan on building first, sending people in later. Yu Dingyun of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation noted that it could take a decade to see the first Chinese building blocks on the moon, and much longer to see humans settling there.

"It may take 20 to 30 years or more for us to finally settle on the surface of the moon, but we must start working together now," Yu said at the conference.