Is a second space race about to begin?

Unfortunately, Obama has effectively cut the U.S. out of the next race to the Moon as far as NASA is concerned this year, as their next generation Ares 1 Rocket design has been cancelled in the latest budget. It appears very likely that China will be the next country to successfully launch a Moon landing mission, as they are the most well-equipped nation financially. There is a lot of talk over how the U.S. involvement in the space race may become privatised in the coming years, which I believe could be a huge step forward, seeing as the NASA missions have been largely stagnating in recent years due to low funding. I'm from Ireland, part of the EU, and we rarely hear anything about the European space program, so I sincerely doubt they would be considered a major player in the race. Same goes for Japan and India. Russia are rumoured to possibly launch a joint program with neighbours China, but it is difficult to say whether that will pan out.

@ Tstroyer: No offence, but that theory is insane on innumerable levels. There is literally no way in a billion years that can happen, primarily (but not exclusively) because planets are huge and are thus limited to very low relative velocities. If something as large as a planet were approaching us in the near future, we would be able to see it in the sky RIGHT NOW as a large ball, far larger than any star or even the Sun. It takes light 8.5 minutes to travel from the sun to the Earth at a velocity of 3 million metres per second, and the photons that make up light are MASSLESS. For an entire PLANET to travel that distance, it would take thousands if not millions of years, and all the while we would be able to watch it approaching in the sky. There is no conspiracy here, because physical principles can not be violated. Sorry, but I had to clear that up because it is a ridiculous statement.

No i don't believe there is going to be a second space race. Because all of these countries have already made it into space, and there isn't an issue on any of this because there isn't a monopoly on space travel or colonization of other planets, any country can do whatever it wishes in the universe as long as its not destructive or threatening to the solar system.

But anyway have you even heard of Nibiru? Supposedly there is a planet named Nibiru that exists in a neighboring solar system, which it's sun had died many years ago. And it's orbit is on a trajectory in its own solar system, and around our own solar system, passing right by earth (approximately every 3,600 years). And the last time it happened most of the world's life forms were destroyed. AND supposedly NASA has know about this going to happen (sometime during the late 2020's) since 1983.... And they aren't going to let the public know about it until several months before it happens; which begs the question "why is everyone trying to colonize another planet so intently?" which would be because the Earth is going to be ultimately destroyed by this event, and we need to have a place to go to or we will be part of the apocalypse that is supposed to happen.

Just a thought!

It isn't feasible to put a man on mars without significant risk to the health of the person. If putting a man on mars is the goal, there will be no race because it isn't going to happen for a long, long time. If the goal is returning a man to the moon, then who cares.

The real race is to make definitive and culture changing discoveries in space, and so far the US is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world (Hubble, Kepler, Cassini, Spirit and Opportunity). The question is whether we can stay the course and not let misguided attempts at human space travel blow the whole space science budget.

Focusing on human space exploration misses the point. Mars isn't like the Dakota Territories, and analogies to the great explorations of past centuries are just plain dumb. We need to be looking for other earth's, other habitable planets in distant star systems, other islands of life, and other Intelligent civilizations.

the moon is already claimed by america and only america has the rights to it and if china or russia set up a base on the moon without americas consent then there would be problems ^_^ the next thing to do in space is to set up gigantic space stations and to go to mars

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There is no race, china will win, because the US is to incompetent and cuts NASA funding.

It has already begun, but American enthusiasm for space missions is nearly zero.

Only China can be a competitor not others.