China Could Beat Us Back to the Moon

NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems, Rick Gilbreth, said Wednesday that China is on a path that could beat the US back to the Moon by 2 or 3 years. NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2020, but based on current projections China could be there by 2017.

Of course the US has been there already and NASA is not looking for a long term base to be built, which contributes to the longer time frame.

Still, it is not a pleasant thought.