Let me guess, we’re reconsidering the moon because the Chinese said they plan to go there?
Zero pulled the plug on the STS, and more recently extended the US committment to the ISS, which means astronauts are using Soviet-era technology launched from Kazakhstan to get into orbit. Other than the astronauts who do it, I think we’d be hard pressed to find anyone with any further interest in orbital space. NASA, like any bureaucracy, but also unlike any bureaucracy, is looking for a raison d’etre. I was looking for a reason to use that one in a sentence. ;’)