US and China to fight ‘star wars’ from Moon bases within decades, says scientist

The US and China will set up bases on opposite sides of the Moon within 20 years – and there will be “conflict” in space before 2069, an expert says.

Astrophysicist Dr David Whitehouse reckons NASA will set up a permanent base in the South Pole’s Shackleton Crater while the Chinese take over the North.

He predicts the Chinese base will be “far larger” and there will already have been “times of conflict on and around the Moon” by the 2069 centenary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.

He said: “China’s long-term goals in space are clear, a human mission to Mars, but first they want a base on the Moon by the mid-2030s.

“Although in the past few years they have said that they will land on Shackleton crater, I believe the decision will not be as simple when seen from the perspective of the 2030s.

“Despite the attractions of Shackleton, with the Americans, Russians, European Space Agency, India and other countries also being interested in it, China might want to establish a base elsewhere – and there is really only one other place they can go: to the permanent shadows at the other end of the Moon.”

The science author also believes US and China will have set up smaller Mars colonies by 2069 milestone and humans will begin to “diverge” from there.

He said: “The next 50 years will see the start of our divergence. By the end of it the Moon and Mars will have their own people for whom Earth has never been their home.

“Some will become exiles, unable to visit Earth because its gravity would kill them. Some will become a new branch of humanity, regarding themselves liberated from the confines of the planet of their predecessors.”

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