NASA just abandoned a big moon project for a chance to beat China

NASA will shelve its plan for a small lunar space station in favor of building a base directly on the moon.

For years, the U.S. space agency talked up Gateway, a station that would circle the moon and act as both a lab and pit stop for lunar missions. Now, after another hard look at time, money, and logistics, officials say executing that project would only slow them down on the way to the main event: getting astronauts back on the moon — before China beats them to it. 

As NASA prepares to launch Artemis II...