I haven't been keeping up with the space news lately.

I didn't realize there was that much redundancy in place. Now all we have to worry about is Trump or Putin going on a political tear and cutting back on their participation and cooperation.

And what about the Chinese? Have they been offered a chance to work with us and the Russians? And if so, are they likely to do so? Maybe they think they don't need to and are determined to go it alone. They seem to have a solid program, it would be a shame if we didn't work together on a joint mission, or at least work out procedures for rescue, repair, emergency, backup etc. I don't even know if the orbits are compatible for flights from one to the other.

I won't be convinced space is fully in humanity's future until all three nations are operating independent stations, but have experience in joint operations too. The European ESA needs to start building a station as well.

Who knows, maybe this idea of non-governmental space activity is really starting to finally become a reality. Maybe we should all go to Mars together--a fleet!