Calls for the United States to return astronauts to the moon before the end of the decade have been increasingly loud and frequent, emanating from bipartisan lawmakers and science advocates alike. But underlying that drumbeat is a quagmire of epic proportions.

NASA plans to use SpaceX’s Starship — the largest rocket system ever constructed — for a key portion of the lunar journey, yet it’s still unclear whether the vehicle will work. And a fierce competitor is nipping at the agency’s heels.

“The China National Space Administration will almost certainly walk on the moon in the next five years,” Bill Nye, the entertainer of “Science Guy” fame and CEO of the nonprofit exploration advocacy group The Planetary Society, said during a recent demonstration against the Trump Administration’s pl

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