For sale: one (slightly) used moon

NRO adds two more cents to the 40th anniversary of the moon landing:

There is almost no doubt that the Chinese will be on the moon within a decade, while we will still be earthbound and potentially bankrupt as a nation with our economy, our technology, and our industrial might in ruins because of uncontrolled government spending, borrowing, and taxing. I had an exciting childhood living in the midst of the space race, but it saddens me to think that time, 40 years ago, may end up being the historical high point of our going out into space, the final frontier.

I've been reading a book that makes a compelling case the Chinese circumnavigated the globe and charted much of the world's coastlines nearly a century before the great wave of European exploration began. In fact, what intrigues me the most is the case the author makes that the famous Portuguese navigators who led that wave were not sailing blindly into the unknown, but rather were benefiting from copies of Chinese charts.

And yet, where is Portugal today? The fact Brazilians speak Portuguese is about the only tangible reminder they and Spain once dominated the waves and the known world.

The US may be on a similar trajectory. Our lead in the space race was greatly assisted by imported German knowledge at the end of World War II. Like Prince Henry, we built on the work of others, with impressive results.

Then walked away from it.

I believe the Chinese are serious about going to the moon. What more dramatic statement could be made about the relative rise and fall of power than a Taikonaut shuffling over Neil Armstrong's footsteps? Or planting a Chinese flag on top of the base of an old lunar lander?

Hey... here's an idea: since we got there first, why don't we call dibs on the moon then sell it to China to pay off the national debt? It's not like we're using it or anything...

(HT: Instapundit)