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In my opinion, China understands what it takes to be a great power. We have written the script for them,” said former NASA administrator Michael Griffin at a hearing before a NASA oversight committee last week.
“They are a near-peer competitor of ours and I would worry very much about the future of this nation if we were not — and if we were not seen by all — to be a world leader,” he said.
“When the Chinese can reach the moon and we cannot, I don’t see why any other nation would regard us as a world leader.”
China will launch a prototype of its space station later this week