A new mineral, Changesite-(Y), was discovered from moon samples recovered by #China’s Chang’e-5 probe, making China the third country to discover a new mineral on the moon, Chinese authorities said Friday. pic.twitter.com/XjatWOtraY — Global Times (@globaltimesnews) September 9, 2022 China has stepped up its space ambitions in recent years, sending probes to the moon, building its own space station and setting its sights on Mars, plans that have put it in direct competition with the US. NASA has a rover on the Red Planet and is looking to put astronauts back on the moon this decade. Both countries are eyeing moon minerals with space mining expected to be the next source of tension. The two sides have been negotiating heavily in recent weeks after the US Artemis I mission, the first major push to return to the moon in half a century, was delayed. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has accused China of stealing space technology and the country has been criticized for space debris. China’s lunar exploration program, established in 2004, launched its first spacecraft three years later. The Chang’e program is named after the Chinese goddess of the moon and has recently focused on collecting samples from the Moon’s surface. The Chang’e-7 program will target the South Pole of the Moon, an area scientists believe is the best place to find water. NASA is also targeting this part of the Moon. China plans to eventually build an international research station based on the Moon, Liu, a government official, said on Saturday.
