I love what scientists are doing over the past few years in regards to space exploration. Private companies getting vehicles into space left and right alongside government and multi-government efforts in areas targeting asteroids, comets, the Sun, the Moon and Mars. But I gotta say, it's a little embarrassing how the western media seem to cover "bad news" stories regarding recent Indian and Chinese space missions (2019 Indian lunar lander crash and last month's Chinese rocket debris) while pretty much ignoring successes. (In 2014 India was the first county to successfully orbit Mars on their first try and, as mentioned here, China successfully landed a rover on the Moon as mankind's first such endeavor since the 1970s)
Well as of a couple days ago, China has landed the only non-American successful lander and rover on Mars. I only learned about this since I am subbed to a Russian YouTuber, Anton Petrov, who specializes in space science information. I googled 2021 Mars rover and here's what I got: a lot of links to info about the most recent American JPL rover and its helicopter (laudable enough, but it's been well covered in the news already) and nothing about the Chinese.
Are American news outlets that unconcerned or are there other reasons they ignore the Asians? Or is it classic racism?
Some talk about a new Space Race. But can't we grow up and behave like adults? Why does it have to be a contest? There are no winners or losers in space exploration. There are only winners. The losers are those who would defund space science and ignore advances altogether. These would likely be the same people who disavow global climate change and embrace an antiquated Us vs. Them mentality. These types feel threatened by other cultures so they either diminish them or pass them over. They burn fossil fuels like there's no tomorrow and perpetuate outmoded animosity amongst grandfathered-in hatreds.
People of Earth, let's move on. Let's be real. If we continue the path of violence, oppression and apathy, ignoring our call to the stars that will, eventually, sometime in the not too far from now future, be the only way our species survives, then we better start abandoning space endeavors altogether, develop our own Iron Domes and bomb the shit outta each other 'till the only evidence we ever existed are tiny, lifeless machines either drifting aimlessly through interstellar space or buried in the sands of equally lifeless worlds.