{"id":16656,"date":"2024-03-08T00:47:07","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/08\/china-russia-float-idea-for-nuclear-power-on-the-moon-want-to-upstage-the-united-states\/"},"modified":"2024-03-08T00:47:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:47:07","slug":"china-russia-float-idea-for-nuclear-power-on-the-moon-want-to-upstage-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/08\/china-russia-float-idea-for-nuclear-power-on-the-moon-want-to-upstage-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"China, Russia float idea for nuclear power on the moon: \u2018want to upstage the United States\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

China and Russia have suggested building a nuclear power plant on the moon, with the goal of finishing the project by 2035 and subsequently helping establish lunar settlements. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The Russians have the world\u2019s most mature space program, having accumulated a lot of firsts: First satellite launched in space (Sputnik); first [vessel] to the moon; and the first man, woman and a dog in space,\u2019 Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital. \u2018They\u2019ve got a lot of \u2018know-how,\u2019 [which] they\u2019ve shared some of that know-how with China.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Russia and China want to upstage the United States by placing a nuclear reactor on the moon first,\u2019 Koffler said. \u2018Whomever gets it first will dictate the terms of discourse to late comers, and that\u2019s the strategic type threat.\u2019<\/p>\n

Yuri Borisov, head of Russia\u2019s space agency Roscosmos, said on Tuesday Russia and China have considered the project, working jointly to determine its viability. Russia provided \u2018nuclear space energy\u2019 expertise to the discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Today we are seriously considering a project \u2014 somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035 \u2014 to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,\u2019 Borisov said while speaking at a youth event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a very serious challenge\u2026it should be done in automatic mode, without the presence of humans,\u2019 he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Borisov argued that other sources of energy, such as solar, would not provide enough electricity to power future lunar settlements \u2013 which nuclear power could.<\/p>\n

Commercial and political interest in the moon has continued to ramp up as further technological developments bring what many would have once considered outlandish closer to reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Russia adheres to the Space Control type of doctrine, which means that in wartime, it will seek to deny the use of space to the U.S. and preserve its own access,\u2019 Koffler explained. \u2018Will this doctrine extend to the moon? Likely.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Moon exploration is an integral part of Russia\u2019s space policy and strategy and a top priority for Putin,\u2019 Koffler said. \u2018Putin monitors very closely Russia\u2019s space program because it has a myriad of implications for civilian and military related innovations.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It is also a huge matter of prestige for Russia, which considers itself a great power,\u2019 she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No nation can claim sovereignty over the moon or other outer space entities, per international space laws. The 1966 treaty, created in response to the space race, determined that nations could not claim property rights in space, but some worry that nations could ignore those laws and norms to advance their goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018No sovereign country is supposed to plant that flag,\u2019 Defense Intelligence Agency\u2019s John Huth, chief of the office of space and counterspace, told Fox News chief political anchor and executive editor of \u2018Special Report\u2019 Bret Baier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018But we\u2019ve also seen China do things in the South China Sea where they\u2019ve built islands and then have claimed some exclusion zone around it,\u2019 Huth said. \u2018So, those are the things that we certainly want to keep an eye on.\u2019<\/p>\n

The moon presents a possible source for minerals: The Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972 brought 800 pounds of lunar samples back to Earth, containing trace amounts of rare Earth metals \u2013 key components to build computer chips and other technology that has become increasingly vital to everything from smartphones to military weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scientists remain skeptical that the minerals exist in significant amounts on the moon, but they acknowledge that a physical presence on the moon is the only way to determine the true geological makeup, underscoring the value of winning the race to establish a space base before rival nations.<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the things we\u2019ll do first when we establish a lunar base, whether it\u2019s us or the Chinese, is really assess what\u2019s there,\u2019 Huth said. \u2018We\u2019ve done that remote sensing part. We\u2019ve brought materials back from the moon, as have the Chinese. So, one of the first things is trying to build a self-sustainable lunar base.\u2019<\/p>\n

The U.S. remains the sole nation to have put a human on the moon, but China last month announced plans to put a Chinese astronaut on the moon before 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s nuclear space expertise has allegedly included a non-operational space-based weapon that could use nuclear energy to disable other satellites \u2013 something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied after reports emerged last month suggesting the existence of such a weapon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Our position is quite clear and transparent: we have always been and remain categorically opposed to the deployment of nuclear weapons in space,\u2019 Putin said. \u2018Just the opposite, we are urging everyone to adhere to all the agreements that exist in this sphere.\u2019<\/p>\n

Speaking during a meeting with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, Putin noted that Russia has only developed space capabilities that \u2018other nations, including the U.S. have.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We haven\u2019t deployed any nuclear weapons in space or any elements of them to use against satellites or to create fields where satellites can\u2019t work efficiently,\u2019 Shoigu said, instead alleging the U.S. had released the allegations about a weapon in order to drum up support in Congress for a Ukraine aid package.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. Space Force did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Bret Baier, Fox News Digital\u2019s Amy Munneke and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China and Russia have suggested building a nuclear power plant on the moon, with the goal of finishing the project by 2035 and subsequently helping establish lunar settlements. \u00a0 \u2018The Russians have the world\u2019s most mature space program, having accumulated a lot of firsts: First satellite launched in space (Sputnik); first [vessel] to the moon; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":16657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}