If, as has been reported, China successfully executes even a 'grab sample' at Mars and returns it safely to Earth before the U.S., that would constitute a 'Sputnik Moment.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @SwearyDoctor 31 Oct
not a sputnik moment. Sputnik was a surprise, after propaganda (and much of the own assessments) had interpreted the soviet union as backwards, and the suddenly it proved it wasn't only not backwards, but out front of the US in technological development.
With China, everyone already knows China is in front. The US getting there first would be the surprise.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 31 Oct
Perhaps big step breakthroughts, like LLMs, still come from the US. But China seems ahead in its ability to execute and implement; likely because the government can muster a lot more resources quickly and because they're not constrained by popular opinion in any way.
Doesn't mean the way China does things is better, but their ability to "achieve something first" is probably better than the US.
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