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SYFY WIRE Bad Astronomy

A new space race?

By Phil Plait
BadAstronomyHero

When Curiosity landed on Mars, I was interviewed by RTTV about it, and China's plans on landing on the Moon. The interview's online:


Like I've said before: I'd like to see us cooperating more internationally, and I fear a new space race with China might be good for funding in the short run, but terrible in the long run. We spent a lot on getting to the Moon - and don't get me wrong, we gained a huge amount from it - but the effort itself fizzled quickly, leaving us with a space program that lacked vision and didn't have big goals. As amazing as Curiosity is, I wonder if we would be putting people on Mars by now had the American government, and the people too, had the gumption to keep that technology moving forward.

Oh, what might have been...


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