NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told a House Committee on Science and
Technology that the
Chinese are likely to be the next nation to reach the moon, even before the
United States. 'If they wanted to mount a lunar mission, they could do so,'
Griffin said. The Chinese space program also has around 200,000 employees, while
NASA has a workforce numbering close to 75,000. Assuming NASA continues to
receive the amount of funding it is currently getting, the space agency will be
able to send astronauts back to the moon in 2019 -- an additional 'few billion
extra' will allow NASA to reach the moon in 2017. The Chinese government
continues to funnel large amounts of money towards the nation's space endeavors.