---
title: "NASA Head Worried China Will Steal America’s God-Given Moon Water"
description: "NASA chief Bill Nelson has Moon water on the mind — also, specifically, the idea that China might get to that precious Moon water first."
date: "2023-06-01"
modified: "2023-06-01"
authors:
  - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-head-china-moon-water"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "lunar water"
  - "moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Head Worried China Will Steal America’s God-Given Moon Water

![NASA chief Bill Nelson has Moon water on the mind — also, specifically, the idea that China might get to that precious Moon water first.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nasa-head-china-moon-water.jpg>)
*WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 21: Former US Senator Bill Nelson, nominee to be administrator of NASA, testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee nomination hearing on April 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Nelson was a senator representing Florida from 2001-2019. (Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images) \<em\>Image: Getty Images\</em\>*

## Mine Mine Mine!

NASA chief Bill Nelson has Moon water on the mind. Specifically, he's worried that China might get to that precious American — er, excuse us, internationally unclaimed — Moon water first.

"I think the United States will get \[to the Moon\] first," Nelson [told the Spanish newspaper *El País*](<https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-05-31/bill-nelson-head-of-nasa-we-want-to-protect-the-water-on-the-moon-to-prevent-china-from-taking-it-over.html>) when pressed about the burgeoning US-China race to Earth's natural satellite. "What worries me more is that both they and we are going to land at the South Pole, where we think there is water."

"Water is important because it is composed of oxygen and hydrogen, and that's oxygen to breathe and hydrogen for rocket fuel," he added. "We want to preserve those potential reserves for the international community, and prevent China from coming in and saying that the water is theirs, as they have done with the Spratly Islands."

There's so very much to unpack here, not the least being that the US has historically also [claimed various island nations](<https://www.cdc.gov/islandaffairs/territories-states.html>) as its own. But Moon water is kind of a different thing, no? Feels a bit more finders-keepers, especially considering that if the US gets its hands on that water first, it [presumably won't ](<https://futurism.com/congress-nasa-collaborating-china-mistake>)[be sharing](<https://futurism.com/congress-nasa-collaborating-china-mistake>) with China, either.

## Planting Flags

To be fair, Nelson was speaking of the China-US Moon Water in the context of the [Artemis Accords](<https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html>), an international, handshake-level peace and cooperation agreement between spacefaring nation-states. As of now, over twenty countries have signed the non-legally binding treaty – China not among them, even though it *is* planning to land astronauts on the Moon [within this decade](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/29/china-moon-space-astronauts-lunar/>).

"These are common sense principles, such as peaceful uses of space, coming together to help each other in times of danger... It also rules out that someone could reach the Moon and claim territory and so prevent others from accessing it," Nelson told *El Pa[**í**](<https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2023-05-31/bill-nelson-head-of-nasa-we-want-to-protect-the-water-on-the-moon-to-prevent-china-from-taking-it-over.html>)s* of the Accords. "And here I'm thinking of China and what it did in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. This territory was in international waters, and China came and claimed it for their own."

Look, the US-China relationship is complicated, and a space race between the nations is [undeniably underway](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-force-china-russia-threat>). But the reality is that if there's a remotely useful amount of water on the Moon, there's almost certainly enough there for everyone.

**More on Bill Nelson:** [*US Space Force Says It's "Under Threat" And in "Perpetual Competition" With China and Russia*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-force-china-russia-threat>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride."

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/mharrisondupre.bsky.social>)