Shenzhou 9 Sparks Renewed Debate On Space Race With China

I won't be counting out the USA with such a broad brush

Remember, when they sent out the astronauts to the moon, the computing power of the entire space module is less than a 386 chip

Today, even a not-so-smart phone has computing power much more than the 386

In other words, if USA wants to go to moon today, it no longer has to do it from scratch

Correct, but modern engineering is plagued by over-engineering, design by committee, and (when the government is involved) pork. For example, Congressional funding for NASA and the military specify which districts the components are made in. We also demand better safety and testing (which takes time) where sometimes the gadgets broke. Safety isn't a bad thing. But in 1969 we were willing to risk 3 men's lives with a reasonable probability they would 1) crash 2) get stranded or 3) overshoot the moon and keep going (all of which results in them dying).

There was a time when the right mix of brains, creativity, and guts came together. Since then, we've gotten smarter but (with respect to NASA) less creative and more risk-adverse.

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