American expert: China and Russia to build a nuclear power plant on the moon —— may leave America far behind!

The new agreement confirms that China and Russia will construct a lunar nuclear power station before 2036, while the United States is discussing scaling back its lunar program.

On May 26, an article was published in Space News.

According to the cooperation memorandum signed by the two countries, Russia's reactor will be used to power the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), which is jointly led by China and Russia and is expected to be completed in 2036.

This announcement was made as NASA released its 2026 budget proposal, which plans to cancel the agency's lunar orbital base program.

According to an interview with TASS, Russia's state news website, the construction of the China-Russia reactor may proceed "unmanned" autonomously. Although the details of how this will be achieved are unclear, Borisov said that the technical steps are "almost ready."

The new research station, a permanently manned lunar base located at the lunar south pole, has so far attracted participation from 17 countries in the plan — including Egypt, Pakistan, Venezuela, Thailand, and South Africa.

Once these basic components are established, China plans further launches to expand the base, connecting it to a space station orbiting the Moon as well as two nodes located at the lunar equator and the far side of the Moon.

The United States also has a lunar program, known as the Artemis program, which has recently encountered delays. Artemis III will mark NASA astronauts' return to the Moon for the first time in more than fifty years, and is expected to launch sometime in 2027.

Meanwhile, the future of NASA's own planned lunar space station, "Gateway," has become uncertain due to the release of its budget plan, which proposes earliest launch in 2027. Despite significant progress in the "Gateway" module, the budget request cancels the "Gateway" mission.

Between one sip and one bite, the distance between the United States and China is growing ever wider.

American netizen Simon Delmont said:

If only this could become an international effort rather than a competition.

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833131585352970/

Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.