The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1960s was grounded in the politics of superpower rivalry. They pushed one another to ever-greater technological developments that, in July 1969, led to the US becoming the first, and still, only, nation to land an astronaut on the moon. China’s goal of attaining the same feat and going a step further with a permanent manned base that could enable mineral exploitation and missions to Mars and beyond have sparked new interest from the US, which last landed on the moon in 1972.

Space travel and research are widely perceived as the pinnacle of scientific prowess. China’s achievements have impressed counterparts and that has been especially so with the latest mission, to a part of the lunar surface that cannot be seen from Earth, which is challenging to communicate with and has long been of interest to scientists for its geography and geology. Practical answers are sought on whether ice on the South Pole is in sufficient quantity to produce water to support life and if rare minerals are abundant enough for commercial mining. China’s economic, military and technological rise is already anathema to the Trump White House; renewed American interest in the moon is about challenging and countering.