NASA Director: China Could Land on Moon Before US

WASHINGTON, July 5. /TASS/. China could land a man on the Moon before American astronauts return to it, said NASA Director Jared Isaacman.

"The Chinese will land their taconauts on the moon. There's no question," he said on the CBS television channel. "The question is ‘Will the United States return before them, and will we do so in a different way this time? Will we build the base, establish that enduring presence.’ I think the answer is ‘Yes’.

"We are very much in a space race right now, and the Chinese are moving at incredible speeds."

Isaacman said in May that NASA intends to deploy a US-manned station on the Moon by 2032. NASA said it expects to test technologies on the Moon that will allow for a manned flight to Mars in the future.