US Should Verify China's Activity on Moon Not Military Related - Army Official

ARLINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States should monitor China's activity on the far side of the Moon to ensure there is no military activity, US Space Integrated Planning Element chief Joseph Guzman said during a panel discussion on space support to air and missile defence on 12 March.

"If the Chinese are in fact putting a military base on the moon, I'm sure they wouldn't admit it… They certainly have the technological prowess to do this and the will", Guzman said. "I think we should actually establish some kind of way to verify what exactly is going on in the far side of the Moon and it's probably not good enough to just believe what the Chinese tell us".

Guzman said establishing a military capability on a celestial object would be in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

READ MORE: WATCH Moon Start Moving Backwards Passing Sun

In early January, the Chinese lunar mission Chang'e-4 successfully landed on the far side of the Moon for the first time in history.

The Chang'e-4 landed in Von Karman crater, which is located in the north-western part of the largest known impact lunar crater, the South Pole-Aitken basin. The module is set to enable studies of the lunar surface's mineral structure and of the lunar mantle.

The Chang'e-4 was launched from the Xichang space centre, located in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, on 7 December.