The challenge from China on space needs to be kept in perspective the chinese still spend much less than the US on space technologies. The real failure has been

The challenge from China on space needs to be kept in perspective the chinese still spend much less than the US on space technologies. The real failure has been the constant insistence by political leaders that NASA utilize shuttle derived components. After having to cancel the constellation project due to questions about whether the ares rockets would ever fly it is disconcerting that a similar approach is now being tried again. The new approach is probably workable in the sense that it will fly but it will continue to use shuttle derived components that will promise a high cost and limited flexibility for very little benefit over commercial approaches.