The US could long ago have had a lunar colony, mining operations, a technological base for planetary exploration, etc. Instead, the future has been ceded to those who will do so while the US looks for more money for the ever expanding welfare masses that support the Democrats.
Not to mention US interstellar ships arrrived or arriving at various other solar systems ... just your average case of massive failure of poltical will ... a lesson the Chinese do not intend to repeat.