Mindless competition should be replaced by international cooperation, as in the UN. Also, the ISS is an example of worldwide science cooperation, So too, the UN decision process should ditch the security console power structure and make decisions based on international research data, not who has the most guns, affording more nation-states having the option of opting in or out of a worldwide program or future technology. Cooperative space treaties and initiatives will IMO accomplish more than one-off power brokers planting flags on moon/mars rocks, which does nothing but create more issues to deal with.

Down here deep in our western empire, what's left of it, reminds me of an issue over several decades now of the state of the media. No matter how complete a data collection of facts supporting some reported information, for some reason there must now be an immediately spawned counter or alternative conclusions regarding factual studies of new information, literally spawned, as if there are two (or more likely > than 2) sides to studied learned facts. In politics, it's sometimes referred to as equal time. Facts have to be settled on as facts and not a spawning opportunity for blather pulled out of someone's backside.