Cool, good for them. Let's hope they bring back some good science.

Last time, science was an afterthought. We didn't even send up an actual scientist until the last mission, and then we canceled the whole thing because people were bored already.

If we go second, and do even more science, then yay. If we cancel it in a fit of pique because we were only going to prove that we're better than somebody else, I'd rather our money went elsewhere.

Honestly, the kick in the ass we need or, if the loss is seen as anything but as much by Americans, the signal the world needs in terms of where to invest the future of human technological civilisation.