NASA may be left in the lunar dust as other nations launch their own Moon plans. There is growing Moon fever in China, Japan, India, and Europe as lunar orbiters and robot lander missions are plotted out. The global attraction to the Moon is stirring up the prospect that expeditions from various countries are keen to plant flag and footprint on the barren and foreboding world.There are rumblings that a new vision for NASA is in the making at the White House, one that embraces a human return to the Moon as a stepping stone to eventually dispatch a crew to Mars. How a souped-up Apollo-like replay from the 1960s is greeted by the U.S. Congress and in the minds of American taxpayers remains to be seen.At the moment, under the rubric of NASA's New Frontiers class of spacecraft missions, the United States is now thinking about a robotic lunar grab, stash and dash return sample mission at the South Pole-Aitken Basin. If given a go-ahead, that American probe would head moonward in the 2009-2010 time frame.But the United States will be far from alone in chalking up lunar mileage. Over the next decade, the Moon will act as a magnet, tugging on the talents of lunar explorers from multiple space agencies.

The international character of 21st century lunar exploration was in evidence at a seminal meeting last month of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG). Held November 16-22 on Hawai`i Island, Hawaii, the gathering brought together experts from the major spacefaring powers around the globe, as well as other nations and private groups honing their space research skills. "I think the Moon is going to get interesting again, and if not crowded, at least noisy," said Geoffrey Little, author of the forthcoming book: After Apollo: The Legacy of the Moon Landings.

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