On Friday, China launched its Chang'e-6 mission carrying a probe to the far side of the moon to gather samples and bring them back to Earth. If successful, it would be a first, for any country.

The race to get astronauts back on the moon is in full swing. The U.S. has serious competition. China wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Other countries are in the race, too.

If the U.S. stays on schedule it will get humans back on the moon before anyone else, as part of NASA's Artemis program. That's a big if. But NASA is making progress.

The space agency's making a bit of a bet, and mostly relying on private companies, mainly Elon Musk's SpaceX .

With limited resources and facing a more crowded field, it's unclear if the U.S. will dominate space as it once did.

Host Scott Detrow talks to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson about what he is doing to try to keep the U.S. at the front of the race back to the moon.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

NASA chief is worried about China getting back to the moon first

Consider This from NPR