The race to the Moon is on – once again. Half a century after humans set foot on the lunar surface for the last time, nations are back at the drawing board, designing missions to reach the Earth’s only satellite. This time, they intend to stay.

Towards the end of summer, two nations fought to become the first to land in a spacecraft at the Moon’s south pole. Luna 25 – the first Russian probe to set for the Moon in 47 years – was launched first. However, the spacecraft “ceased to exist” after suffering a technical glitch that sent it crashing into the lunar surface. Two days later, India launched Chandrayaan 3, becoming the first nation to land in the Moon’s south pole, and doing so with a budget of only $74m. Perhaps surprisingly, the US was not among the participants in the race, although both Nasa and China are targeting the location for future lunar missions. 

Following the Apollo programme and the end of the Cold War, public...