Pat Flannery ) wrote:
: Rand Simberg wrote:

: I now realize that Mark Whittington is
: right, and that there's a very real chance that the Chinese will beat
: us to the moon, and lay claim to the strategic high ground. But we
: must accept that, and work to change that potential outcome, whatever
: it takes.
:
:

: First off, at the rate they are moving, the Chinese will be on the moon
: around 2025 if at all.
: Second, being up there doesn't give them the "strategic high ground" due
: to the time it would take anything to reach the Earth that was fired
: from the Moon. In fact, if you want to worry about the Chinese high
: ground scenario, watch out for stuff in Earth orbit, not way out on the
: Moon.
: Who knows? SpaceX's next launch attempt might work, although their whole
: Falcon program up to the moment has a distinctly amateurish feel to it
: that I don't think bodes any too well for its ultimate success.

They need to take this in stride and come back stronger sort of like what
happened with Apollo 1. They have more to prove now.

Eric

: Pat