This year started with a major lunar milestone. A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the moon’s south pole in February. This was the first U.S. touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector.

The landing of the uncrewed six-legged robot lander, dubbed Odysseus, capped a nail-biting final approach and descent in which a problem surfaced with the spacecraft’s autonomous navigation system that required engineers on the ground to employ an untested workaround at the 11th hour.

Accomplishing the landing is “a major intermediate goal, but the goal of the mission is to do science, and get the pictures back and so forth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, a former NASA science chief who oversaw creation of the agency’s commercial moon lander program.

NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the landing as a significant achievement in its goal of sending a squad of commercially flown spacecraft on scientific scouting missions to the moon ahead of a planned return of astronauts there later this decade.

The United States is currently the only country ever to have sent humans to the lunar surface. But it is far from the only nation with ambitions to reach the moon and “do science.” Other powerful players—China, India, Russia and Japan—have also been making strides in their space programs and have robust plans for the coming years.

This is the new space race. Currently, this pursuit focuses mainly on the moon—but that is just a steppingstone to further exploration on Mars and space in general.

Success means international scientific and diplomatic victories as well as control of vital resources.

Yet these are not the only factors fueling the space race. There is a deeper reason for the enduring desire of people and nations to make it to the moon and beyond.

What is behind man’s fascination with space? And who will ultimately conquer it?

America’s Plans

NASA’s website describes its motivations this way: “NASA’s future will continue to be a story of human exploration, technology, and science. We will go back to the Moon to learn more about what it will take to support human exploration to Mars and beyond…Our scientists will work to increase an understanding of our planet and our place in the universe.”

Odysseus’ arrival marked the first landing under NASA’s Artemis lunar program, as the U.S. races to return astronauts to Earth’s natural satellite before China lands its own crewed spacecraft there.

NASA aims to land its first crewed Artemis in late 2026 as part of long-term, sustained lunar exploration and a steppingstone toward eventual human flights to Mars. The initiative focuses on the moon’s south pole in part because a presumed bounty of frozen water exists there that can be used for life support and production of rocket fuel.

A host of small landers such as Odysseus are expected to pave the way under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, designed to deliver instruments and hardware to the moon at lower costs than the U.S. space agency’s traditional method of building and launching those vehicles itself.

Yet leaning more heavily on smaller, less experienced private ventures comes with its own risks.

Earlier this year, the lunar lander of another firm, Astrobotic Technology, suffered a propulsion system leak on its way to the moon shortly after being placed in orbit on January 8 by a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket. The malfunction of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander marked the third failure of a private company to achieve a lunar touchdown, following ill-fated efforts by companies from Israel and Japan.

Private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin have made crewed space missions a priority. NASA plans to send astronauts to fly around the moon next year, and to land there in 2026. It is working to commercialize lunar deliveries by private businesses while the U.S. government tries to get astronauts back to the moon.

For now, the United States’ ability to spend large sums and marshal supply chains gives it an advantage over China and other moon rivals—all to the end of gaining an increased understanding of the universe.

China

In December 2013, China’s uncrewed Chang’e-3 made the world’s first lunar soft landing since 1976. In January 2019, the also uncrewed Chang’e-4 landed on the far side of the moon, another first. Last year, China launched a three-person crew for its orbiting space station. It hopes to put astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.

In 2020, a Chinese capsule returned to Earth from the moon with the first fresh lunar rock samples in more than 40 years. China’s first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the USSR and the United States to put a person into space.

China’s space plans are linked to its rivalry with the United States as the world’s two largest economies compete for diplomatic, political and military influence in Asia and beyond.

A white paper released by the nation titled “China’s Space Program: A 2021 Perspective” provided further insight into its lunar ambitions. It stated, “The space industry will contribute more to China’s growth as a whole, to global consensus and common effort with regard to outer space exploration and utilization and to human progress.”

China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, partly because of U.S. objections over the Chinese space program’s intimate ties to the military. China and the United States are also considering plans for permanent crewed bases on the moon.

India

In 2023, India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole. In 2019, a software glitch had caused an Indian lander to crash on its lunar descent. So the $75 million success in August brought widespread jubilation, with people cheering in the streets and declaring India’s rise as a scientific superpower.

The success was seen as key to boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity before a crucial general election this year.

Indian scientists said that the next step is a manned lunar mission.

India has been pushing for a space program since the 1960s and aims to visit the International Space Station next year in collaboration with the United States.

New Delhi also sees victory in space as important in its rivalry with nuclear-armed neighbor China. Relations between India and China have plunged since deadly border clashes in 2020.

But India’s space ambitions are not solely driven by competition. According to the website of the Indian Space Research Organization: “The space research activities were initiated in our country during the early 1960’s, when applications using satellites were in experimental stages even in the United States. With the live transmission of Tokyo Olympic Games across the Pacific by the American Satellite ‘Syncom-3’ demonstrating the power of communication satellites, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the founding father of Indian space program, quickly recognized the benefits of space technologies for India.

“Dr. Sarabhai was convinced and envisioned that the resources in space have the potential to address the real problems of man and society.”

Russia

Last year, Russia’s Luna-25 failed in its attempt to land in the same area of the moon that India reached. It came 47 years after the Soviets landed on the moon, and Russian scientists blamed that long break and the accompanying loss of space expertise for the recent failure.

The Soviets launched the first satellite in space in 1957 and put the first human in space in 1961. Still, Russia’s program has struggled since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union amid widespread corruption and Western sanctions that have hurt scientific development.

Moscow is planning for another moon mission in 2027.

Russia’s failures and the growing role of companies, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, have cost Russia its once-sizable niche in the lucrative global space launch market.

Just as India’s success was seen as evidence of its rise to great power status, some have portrayed Russia’s failure as casting doubt on its global influence and strength.

While Russia’s space ambitions are undoubtedly linked to their standing in the world, they too have had a sense of something greater.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a Russian rocket scientist who pioneered astronautics and is seen by some as the father of human spaceflight, once proclaimed: “Men are weak now, and yet they transform the Earth’s surface. In millions of years their might will increase to the extent that they will change the surface of the Earth, its oceans, the atmosphere and themselves. They will control the climate and the solar system just as they control the Earth. They will travel beyond the limits of our planetary system; they will reach other Suns and use their fresh energy instead of the energy of their dying luminary” (adAstra Magazine).

This speaks to man’s desire to explore, conquer and control what he does not understand. We will see later that Tsiolkovsky may have been more right about this than he ever knew.

Japan

Japan landed a spacecraft on the moon in January, an attempt at the world’s first “pinpoint lunar landing.” The milestone allowed Japan to enter an elite club previously occupied by only the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China.

In February, an unmanned lunar spacecraft had captured and transmitted data analyzing 10 lunar rocks, a Japan space agency official said.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, used its multi-band spectral camera to study rock composition, and worked on examining lunar rocks, said Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency project manager Shinichiro Sakai.

A black-and-white photo transmitted soon after SLIM was reactivated showed the bumpy lunar surface, including six rocks. The craft eventually obtained data from 10 rocks altogether, all of which were given the names of dog breeds, such as “Akitainu,” “Beagle” and “Shibainu.”

“We are hoping that the rock analysis will lead us to the origin of the moon,” Mr. Sakai said. By comparing the mineral compositions of moon rocks and those of Earth, they could find out if the rocks have common elements, he said. According to the “giant-impact” hypothesis, some believe the moon was formed as a result of the Earth colliding with another planet, and a smaller mass spinning off of them.

During an April visit to the White House by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, he and U.S. President Joe Biden announced that Japanese astronauts will participate in NASA moon missions, among other measures to strengthen ties between the two nations.

Mr. Biden said, “Those ties stretch up to the moon, where two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions, and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon.”

Learning where the moon really came from is a driver for Japan’s moon ambitions. The truth about the moon’s origin goes hand-in-hand with knowing who will ultimately conquer space.

The Glory of the Moon

The moon and outer space in general have a certain allure to human beings. While part of the reason for the new moon race is bragging rights among nations and the pursuit of resources, each of the major players also has a curiosity that runs deeper than that.

Where does this allure come from? The apostle Paul shed light on this in the Bible. He wrote in I Corinthians: “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory” (15:40-41).

Paul acknowledged that the planets, sun, moon and stars each have a certain “glory” unique from one another. This glory attracts man to continue exploring and to try to understand what makes these bodies so glorious.

While there are still things left to discover about the planet on which we live, man has only scratched the surface of what lies in outer space.

According to Strong’s Concordance, the Greek word for glory means “glory (as very apparent), in a wide application, dignity, honor, praise, worship.”

This definition begins to reveal the connection between our fascination with celestial bodies and the Being who created them. Seeing the majesty of the sun, moon, stars and planets points our minds to “worship,” whether we know it or not.

Psalm 19 reveals more about this glory: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handywork” (vs. 1). To understand all that this verse is saying, take note of the word “heavens” (plural) here. This term encompasses more than meets the eye.

The Bible describes three heavens. God the Father and Jesus Christ live in the third heaven (II Cor. 12:1-2), which no living human has seen. It is where God’s throne is situated. The second heaven is the great, vast universe of stars, planets, comets and other bodies in space (Psa. 8:3). The first heaven is the sky or air that surrounds the Earth, which we refer to as the atmosphere (104:12).

Each of these declares God’s glory in its own way.

Beyond the Moon

Mankind does not want to stop with the moon. His appetite for conquest is even greater than this. In recent years, the goal of humans living on Mars has grown in popularity.

According to NASA, “Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is one of the only other places we know where life may have existed in the solar system. What we learn about the Red Planet will tell us more about our Earth’s past and future, and may help answer whether life exists beyond our home planet.

“Like the Moon, Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans to travel and explore far from Earth.”

Decades ago, the notion of life surviving on Mars seemed farfetched. But this vision has now come to be embraced by many, bolstered by technological advancements and scientific discovery.

In 2023, The Associated Press reported: “Water may be more widespread and recent on Mars than previously thought, based on observations of Martian sand dunes by China’s rover. The finding highlights new, potentially fertile areas in the warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist, though more study is needed.”

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has long expressed a vision for getting human beings to the red planet, said: “You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great—and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”

Who Will Conquer?

Beyond revealing celestial bodies declare God’s own glory, the Bible also emphatically proclaims that God created all things.

Colossians 1:16 says, “By Him [God] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.” Revelation 4 adds, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created” (vs. 11).

The simple truth is that we do not need to examine lunar rocks to know the moon’s origin or arrive on Mars to grasp Earth’s past and future.

God created space, just as He created all things. He is also in control of who will hold power over it. God will not allow anyone to conquer space outside His purpose. Man can only go as far as He allows. And the Bible tells us exactly what God plans for this vast lunar expanse. It has everything to do with salvation.

Real Truth Editor-in-Chief David C. Pack addressed this in his book The Awesome Potential of Man. He wrote: “The incredible goal of a Christian is to be born into the Kingdom of God—to become a spirit being ruling under Christ, as a very Son of God. What could be more wonderful—more glorious!—for a Christian to look forward to?”

Many verses make plain that one becomes a spirit being at the resurrection of the dead (John 5:24-26; Rom. 6:3-5; I Thes. 4:13-18). This is far different from the belief about going to heaven that most popular Christian churches teach.

Mr. Pack continues: “God will eventually share rulership of His entire creation with His Sons…Christ is merely the first of many Sons. The birth of a firstborn son does not preclude the birth of additional sons (and daughters) to that same family. I have two sons and am a firstborn son with a younger brother. My father was a second born son, having an elder brother and so on.

“Paul goes on to explain that God plans to give enormous power and authority to His Sons: ‘You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him’ (Heb. 2:8). This has not yet happened—but it will soon.

“When God says that ‘all things’ will be put under the feet of man, that is what He means! The vast universe, with all of its quadrillions of stars and one trillion galaxies, will be put under the authority of men who have been born into the Family of God. In fact, the Moffatt translation renders the Greek word for ‘all things’ as ‘the universe.’”

A Change to Spirit

God never intended the vast expanse of outer space to lie dormant. He plans to give it to “His sons.” Those who obey God will conquer space as a part of His Plan.

Romans 8 adds more: “We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (vs. 22-23).

All Creation is figuratively groaning for God’s sons and daughters to be given power over it.

This applies to planet Earth, which has been damaged, polluted and stripped of resources, but also the vastness of space, which has not yet been used to support life.

When does this all happen? At the “redemption of our body”—salvation.

I Corinthians 15, where we learned about the “glory of the moon,” reveals more about what being changed to spirit is like. Teaching about terrestrial and celestial bodies was not actually Paul’s main point here. He only cited this knowledge to compare them to something even greater: the spirit bodies God’s children will receive at the resurrection.

As you read his longer explanation, realize that this magnificent reward can be yours.

Paul wrote, “Some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?…God gives it a body as it has pleased Him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body…As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (vs. 35, 38-44, 48-49).

Space will not be conquered by the wealthiest or most advanced nations or companies. While they will continue to make incremental progress, these efforts will not give today’s nations what they seek. God has promised space rule to those who obey Him, along with power over “all things” in His Family.

Who will conquer space? If you obey God, you will!

This article contains information from Reuters and The Associated Press.