The urge to use the past space race as a model is natural, but Cathleen Lewis, curator of international space programs at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, believes it may not be the ideal guide for mapping history onto current events. "In my opinion, this isn't a new race," she said. "If you want to use historical events, this is more of a gold rush." 

Or, more specifically, an ice rush. In 2018, researchers discovered water ice retained in the deep, permanent shadows of polar craters. The United States, China, Russia, and India are all eyeing areas of the lunar South Pole where the frozen resource should be. Water can be used to produce rocket fuel or for lunar manufacturing. However, it is hefty and consequently expensive to launch from Earth.  

Space agencies "haven't quite worked out" how they would use this ice, or for "what technology to what end," according to Lewis. "But everyone wants to get there because we now know there is water ice to be found." 

But it isn't just about the ice. Lewis emphasizes that the technology foundation for all of this activity is vastly different from that of the mid-twentieth century. Back then, the United States and the Soviet Union were creating technologies to send humans to the moon for the first time. 

According to her, President Kennedy supported the moon program after his aides convinced him that the race could be won technologically. While this race had a goal, it also described how "the USSR was racing to the maximum capacity of their technological limits."

The Soviets had problems creating vehicles capable of launching a crewed mission to the moon. The United States developed the Saturn V rocket, the most powerful ever launched until the first flight of NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in late 2022. 

Today, several nations and even private organizations have the technological capabilities to launch spacecraft to the moon. Space is becoming increasingly populated, with satellites tethered to terrestrial economies transporting communications, providing navigation signals, and monitoring agricultural water and other ground resources. 

The goal is no longer to gain technological superiority. Instead, nations are scrambling to acquire current technology, which are becoming necessary for economic independence and prosperity. 

In this regard, the current wave of moon missions differs from previous ones in that they are more internally focused on economies rather than acting as a non-military proxy fight between two superpowers. Over the last 30 years, China's space exploration has grown in tandem with its economic prosperity, according to Lewis.

However, this does not guarantee that it will remain such. The historical Gold Rush, after all, resulted in fighting over that rich resource. The potential for disagreements will rise as more players operate on the moon on a regular basis. 

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits governments from placing territorial claims on celestial bodies, although it does allow them to use resources there. Whether that use involves mining resources to sell for a profit on Earth is less obvious. "We haven't had to deal with that profit in space," Lewis said. "I'm glad I'm not an attorney who specializes in these sorts of things because it's a part of it that gives me a headache."

However, space lawyers and diplomats may still have plenty of time to figure it out. Because when it comes to the moon, even gold rushes are patience and slow.