Who will get to Mars first, USA or China?

[JulesVerneATV]

NASA accelerates Artemis II moon mission timeline to February 2026



1989 Study on Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars" or simply, "the 90-Day Study"
https://web.archive.org/web/20080916031414/https://history.nasa.gov/90_day_study.pdf

President Bush proposed today that the United States establish a base on the Moon, send an expedition to Mars and begin ''the permanent settlement of space.''
https://web.archive.org/web/20131214110910/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/21/us/president-calls-for-mars-mission-and-a-moon-base.html

In a speech celebrating the 20th anniversary of man's landing on the Moon, Mr. Bush made the first major commitment by a President to these ambitious goals

Dan Goldin became NASA Administrator, and during his tenure near-term human exploration beyond Earth orbit was abandoned, and the "faster, better, cheaper" strategy was applied

the plan by Bush senior or 'SEI' had critics both Democrat and Republicans complained of cost

President Clinton stated that a human mission to Mars was too expensive, less expensive robots would be used in exploration

Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced in January 2004 by Bush junior son of Bush senior, 43rd President of the USA, President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, finish the ISS, do lots of science, go back to the Moon and use it as a stepping stone to Mars, some blame the cost of Wars and Financial Crisis at the end of Bush and start of Obama.

Obama promised millions to help Space Coast workers affected by the cancellation of the Space Shuttle program and Constellation program,  Ares V (formerly known as the Cargo Launch Vehicle or CaLV) was the planned cargo launch component now cancelled, Ares I was the crew launch vehicle also cancelled, new policy changes from Vision for Space Exploration and Constellation program, the  Space Launch System became new vehicle for human exploration, the private sector or Elon Musk with Sopace-X started to be more successful, Crew Dragon Demo-2 was attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. During the Biden-Harris Administration President Joe Biden's press secretary expressed his support for the Artemis Program, he also expressed support for the Space Force.

Donald Trump elected once again, now supporting Musk's private sector vision for a manned mission to Mars but we also got the Trump–Musk feud.

and once again we have a vision for Mars.

Nasa bans Chinese nationals from working on its space programmes
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wd5qpekkvo
The US currently bans Nasa from sharing its data with China US space agency Nasa has blocked Chinese citizens with valid US visas from its facilities

After the International Space Station, what comes next?
https://earthsky.org/space/international-space-station-ends-2030-what-next/

For years, NASA has successfully sent supplies to the International Space Station using commercial partners. And the agency recently began similar business arrangements with SpaceX and Boeing for transporting crew aboard the Dragon and Starliner spacecraft, respectively.

Based on the success of these programs, NASA invested more than US$400 million to stimulate the development of commercial space stations and hopefully launch and activate them before the ISS is decommissioned.

NASA needs to qualify, not certify. commercial space stations
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/5067/1

US Researchers: "China Surpasses US in Space Exploration as US Cuts Budget"
https://www.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2025091414032113020
As the United States is cutting its space budget, American researchers have analyzed that China is taking the lead in the competition

[JulesVerneATV]

an opinion

NASA's Mars Sample Return Is Dead, Paving The Way For China
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-mars-sample-return-is-dead-paving-the-way-for-china