China reported that the Tianwen-3 mission to Mars would be returning Mars soil to Earth by 2031, four years before NASA’s Perseverance will return with Mars dust, reported South China Morning Post. NASA’s outgoing administrator, Bill Nelson, announced that Perseverance will not return before 2035. While this will be another “blow” to U.S. prestige in its space endeavors, it should help to bring one lesson home to the U.S. space community, and to the science community as a whole. In dealing with major technological powerhouses like China or Russia, cooperation rather than competition may be more beneficial to U.S. technological advancement.