NASA is changing its policy and has begun to ban Chinese nationals with valid visas from participating in its programs as the US-China’s confrontation to send crews to the Moon is intensifying.

“NASA has taken internal measures on Chinese nationals, including limiting physical access and cyber -access to our facilities, materials and network, to ensure the safety of our project,” NASA Secretary Bethany said Wednesday.

According to Bloomberg, Chinese nationals had previously been allowed to work as contractors or students who contribute to research, though not as a staff. However, on September 5, several people said they were suddenly excluded from the IT systems and were banned from attending meetings with a physical presence.

The move comes amid escalation of the anti -national rhetoric under the government of President Donald Trump.

The American Artemis program aims to reach the Moon in 2027, but has been overrun and delays.

China, on the other hand, aims to send its own crew by 2030 as part of its program and has recently been more successful in keeping the deadlines.

“We are in a second space race right now,” NASA chief executive Sean Duffy said on Wednesday at a press conference on the discoveries made with an American rover on Mars.

“The Chinese want to return to the Moon before us. This is not going to happen. America has led the past in the past and we will continue to lead in space and in the future. “

China also seeks to become the first country to return a sample from the surface of Mars, with a robotic mission scheduled to launch in 2028 and bring back rocks only in 2031.

In the meantime, the Trump government has stated through the budget proposal that it wants to cancel a scheduled mission of return to Mars (MSR), a joint project with the European Space Agency. It has hinted that the work could instead be completed by a manned mission, although no specific details have been given.