The new space race is going to be very interesting.
This is why the Chinese will beat us to Mars. Not only do they have a will to succeed and a vision of what can be, but when it comes to environmentalists, the Chinese don't give a rat's ass about what they think. Such an attitude is going to allow the Chinese to build nuclear powered spacecraft far faster than we can. I wouldn't even put building an Orion type craft past them within the next 20-30 years.