The United States is in a race with China to get to the Moon , NASA ’s acting administrator Sean Duffy has said, as he outlined the agency’s first planned crewed lunar flyby in more than five decades.

In an interview with the Shawn Ryan Show earlier this week, Duffy, who is also transportation secretary, described NASA’s Artemis II mission scheduled to launch as early as February as a gateway for a permanent presence on Earth’s neighbor driven by geopolitical rivalry.

“Should we cede the moon to the Chinese and are there any national security risks to that?” Duffy said, “I don't really want to find that out.”

Why It Matters

Artemis II is touted by NASA as the agency’s first crewed mission on the path to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon. The 10-day flight with fo

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