NASA administrator weighs in on China’s historic lunar far side samples — and potential US access

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The government of China now possesses something that no other humans have ever encountered — rocks and soil from the far side of the moon.

The successful return of the Chang’e-6 lunar mission with the historic cache on June 25 was a scientific coup that further solidified China’s place as one of the world’s top space powers, rivaled only by the United States.

And despite competition heating up in the global race to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, China’s space agency is again following the precedent set by NASA decades ago after the Apollo missions and sharing its lunar samples with scientists around the world.

KARS, TURKIYE — MAY 18: A view of moon, appearing in the sky in the evening hours in Kars, Turkey, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Omer Tarsuslu/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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“China welcomes scientists from all countries to apply (to study the samples) and share in the benefits,” said Liu Yunfeng, director of the international cooperation office of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), during a Thursday news conference in Beijing.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told CNN he’s “pleased to hear CNSA intends to share” the materials collected by the Chang’e-6 lunar probe last month. The samples, gathered using a drill and a mechanical arm, include up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar dust and rocks from an ancient crater on the moon’s far side, which is never visible to Earth.

“Make it available to the international community just as we will when we start bringing