[Atlas Sneezed]

"I think the wakeup call for the U.S., in regards to a revitalization of our space program, will be when the Chinese put a man on the moon."

The question is: WHY?

We can understand that totalitarian government (or those with ample tax revenues due to prosperity and a motivated public) will be able to do grand things that land the President's signature on foreign bodies.

However, Apollo was a rare moment in human history: when computers were advanced enough to make controlling complex systems possible, but just before computers made humans unnecessary on the flight. Give me missions than send and recover Imax cameras (or with HDTV video streams) for 10% the cost of manned missions, and let ME experience the event. I don't need an inarticulate fighter jock to go there so that I can identify with the experience. Humans were needed back before pocket calculators. They are no longer needed, and only make the process immensely more expensive, or impossible.

[Restorer]

The problem with your argument is that as long as we are stuck on a single planet, the human race is highly vulnerable.

As the movie Armageddon, with all its inaccuracies, showed.

We need to spread out and colonize the solar system and (eventually) the galaxy.

Keeping all your eggs in one (highly vulnerable) basket is not very smart.

[Archangelsk]

The question is: WHY?

Because there is a valuable energy source, helium 3, that is waiting to be exploited. You can read about it here.

I don't need an inarticulate fighter jock...

I'm quite sure our pilots in the Gulf would disagree with you. :-)