China disputed NASA’s claim that debris about to hit the moon originated with one of its exploration programs, the latest disagreement between the nations over their space programs.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday at a regular press briefing in Beijing that the final rocket stage of a moon mission years ago “entered into the Earth’s atmosphere and has already been completely burned up.”
That contradicted a NASA statement reported by the Washington Post last week that said “the object expected to impact the far side of the Moon March 4 is likely the Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 booster launched in 2014.” NASA also said at the time that the debris wasn’t linked to a SpaceX rocket, as was earlier reported.
