It’s unclear how China will use the win that would come from a successful Chang’e 7 mission, namely the visuals from its vehicles traversing the Moon’s South Pole. It has several options, one of the most intriguing being to claim that the territory explored by its rovers—establishing a keep-out zone for NASA.
That would be a clear provocation, but it could also further galvanize efforts in the United States to invest in Artemis and take the hard steps to accelerate its rollout. It would give Isaacman even more capital in his efforts to reform NASA.
One also suspects it may prompt people who do not view China’s efforts to “beat” NASA back to the Moon as a big deal to reconsider their position.
It seems like half the articles I read on this claims that only one side thinks it’s a race. Only one side has pride on the line.
Yet just like everything else we’ve handed to China and Chinese companies over the last few decades, our own idiocy and lack of focus is at least as significant of a cause as their rising economic capability.
Take EVs. People complain about Chinese companies stealing intellectual property, but I see the car industry has been outsourcing more and more across decades, and legacy manufacturers seem to have entirely given up on competing. Sorry not buying the excuses when you seem to do everything you can to throw away what advantages you started with