In recent months, it has begun dawning on US lawmakers that, absent significant intervention, China will land humans on the Moon before the United States can return there with the Artemis Program.
So far, legislators have yet to take meaningful action on this—a $10 billion infusion into NASA’s budget this summer essentially provided zero funding for efforts needed to land humans on the Moon this decade. But now a subcommittee of the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology has begun reviewing the space agency’s policy, expressing concerns about Chinese competition in civil spaceflight.
Maybe I’m an old fuddy dud, but… why do we need humans there?
This isn’t 1970. Probes are rather good now.
I’d much rather have, like, a big telescope on the dark side of the moon for the same budget. Or a swarm of probes looking for ice and other features. A Titan mission? Or heck, another grand interplanetary tour, anything.
