NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is being mocked for suggesting the far side of the moon is always “dark” and can’t explain why China is interested in exploring that part of the moon.
“What do you think the Chinese are trying to get at, at the back side of the moon?” Rep. David Trone (D-MD) asked Nelson at a congressional hearing last week.
“They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side which is always in dark. Uh, we’re not planning to go there,” he said.
Trone followed up by asking, “And why not? What’s the benefit of doing so?”
“We don’t know what’s on the back side of the moon, so, uh, that would be something that they would discover,” the NASA administrator told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“But our decision is that it’s more profitable for us to go to the South Pole of the moon because that’s where we think the water is,” he added.
The Maryland congressman pressed Nelson on why China chose to go to the far side of the moon.
“Why do you think they made that decision? I’m curious,” Trone said.
“I have no idea,” Nelson said.
The far side of the moon is not “always in dark” and gets sunlight, but it is not visible from the Earth because the moon is tidally locked to the Earth.
Nelson’s comment occurred when he testified before the House Appropriations Committee on NASA’s budget for fiscal 2025.
The social media clip of Nelson went viral on Tuesday, garnering mockery of the NASA leader.
“Is this real?” someone said on X.
“Bill Nelson, professional idiot in charge of NASA, thinks the far side of the moon is ‘dark’ implying that’s why we’re not going there for that reason. In case you’re wondering why [we’re] not back on the moon yet,” a social media user said.
“If Nelson and Sheila Jackson Lee did a podcast about space I’d definitely listen,” another person quipped about the Texas Democratic congresswoman, who recently told schoolchildren that the moon is a “planet” and “made up mostly of gases.”
Nelson’s answer of having “no idea” why China has been venturing toward the far side of the moon is surprising because China’s first lunar sample-gathering rover reportedly extracted a sample of helium-3 from the moon in 2020. Helium-3 is believed to be in abundance in that part of the moon due to that part being exposed to solar winds at a higher degree. China has been interested in mining helium-3.
China has waged an economic war of creating a near monopoly of critical minerals on Earth and has been looking to lock up energy resources on the moon in its quest for space supremacy.
Astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the only living member of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission, has long advocated using helium-3 as an alternative source of energy on Earth and in space travel. Schmitt, a geologist, discovered it on the moon 50 years ago and has been pushing for the isotope to be mined as a fuel in fusion reactors. It is believed that the moon’s supply of helium-3 could be a source of limitless clean energy.
Former CIA space analyst Tim Chrisman reportedly said Beijing is charging forward in extracting energy in space and could leave the United States behind.
“China will almost certainly use any resources it is able to acquire to the detriment of its adversaries, competitors and bystanders alike,” Chrisman said.
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“Just a couple of trips a year would be able to supply most of Earth with ‘clean’ power if it was used effectively. So yes, it seems like a fairly big deal if we were to make use of it,” a Reddit commenter analyzed, adding, “This seems like something that government officials should be aware of/care about.”
During the committee hearing, Nelson said China has “made huge strides in the last 10 years, and you better not take anything for granted.”
