Charles Krauthammer brings his two favorite hobbyhorses (manned spaceflight and American decline) together once again:

China goes for the glory. Having already mastered launch and rendezvous, the Chinese plan to land on the moon by 2025. They understand well the value of symbols. And nothing could better symbolize China overtaking America than its taking our place on the moon, walking over footprints first laid down, then casually abandoned, by us.

This means that the Chinese will spend large amounts of money, time, and resources over the next decade to repeat something that Americans did over forty years ago. Many other things could better symbolize China “overtaking” America. How many allies around the world will China have in 2025 if it lands a man on the moon? Probably just as few as it will have if it doesn’t. Until Chinese influence on this planet exceeds that of the U.S., perhaps there shouldn’t be so much panic that the Chinese are going to waste money on a manned spaceflight program that serves very few practical purposes at great cost. There is no reason for including such a program as one of our “strenuous national endeavors,” and it’s not a given that the U.S. needs or wants a “strenuous national endeavor” run by the government.