The United States may soon be surpassed as the world's leader in space. China announced last week that it intends to place a manned spacecraft on the Moon as just part of its efforts to explore deep space.
According to the whitepaper, the lunar mission would be step one in the country's three-step deep space development plan. Eventually, China hopes to place satellites in orbit around the Moon and return lunar samples to Earth. Their main goal, however, is to build a "foundation for human spaceflight" moving forward.
Chinese officials haven't released a timetable for these goals, but The Guardian reports that the Moon mission could happen as early as 2025 -- more than 50 years after the United States first achieved the feat. Meanwhile, NASA's own plans for the coming decades leave some worried that China will soon leave the agency behind in space.
As NASA faces weakened public support and slashed budgets, maintaining the space crown seems a daunting task. What do you think the agency should focus on in 2012 and beyond?