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Overview: The U.S.-China space race is getting tighter

So on land, so among the stars: tensions between the U.S. and China have until early November to gently simmer in matters of trade, but they're set to soar in the race to advance the competing lunar agendas of the world's two largest economies.

Since 1969, the U.S. has led the pack on lunar exploration as the only nation to land humans on the Moon's soil. The Soviet Union, Washington's only real contender at the time, never duplicated the feat despite putting the first man into space some eight years prior — even as sanctions-struck Russia plans to cons

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