A New Race to the Moon

Last week, India landed its spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, becoming the first country to land such a craft near the south pole, where scientists believe vital reserves of water could be found frozen. The landing also revealed just how much the international space race has changed.

Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The Times, explains why a new set of players are dominating the space race and what is motivating their groundbreaking missions to the moon.

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• India became the first country to get a craft to the lunar south polar region in one piece, adding to the achievements of its homegrown space program.
• At the moon’s south pole, a quest for ice.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.