India, China, Japan and Europe are busy launching, or planning to launch, robotic spaceships to the moon and points beyond. Their goals will include tasks ranging from mapping minerals to seeking ice from which future astronauts might extract drinking water. More distant goals include looking for a mineral called ilmenite that some experts think is rich in an isotope called helium-3.
A new space race is underway with several countries - including Japan, China, and India - undertaking efforts to explore and develop the moon's resources. It will be a long race, with humans unlikely to set foot on the moon again in the next 10 to 15 years. But countries are gearing up to take their first steps.
Today, a new list of nations -- India, China, Japan, Russia, Europe and the United States -- are throwing their resources at space exploration. Their goal, unstated but indisputable, is similar to the colonial powers of the 19th century: to obtain future domination over unclaimed territories in space.
The author warns that several countries are beginning to challenge U.S. dominance in commercial and military space.