From The Space Review:听听Lunar exploration is undergoing a renaissance. Dozens of missions, organised by multiple space agencies鈥攁nd increasingly by commercial companies鈥攁re set to visit the Moon by the end of this decade. Most of these will involve small robotic spacecraft, but NASA鈥檚 ambitious Artemis program aims to return humans to the lunar surface by the middle of the decade.
There are various reasons for all this activity, including geopolitical posturing and the search for lunar resources, such as water ice at the lunar poles, which can be extracted and turned into hydrogen and oxygen propellant for rockets. However, science is also sure to be a major beneficiary.
The Moon still has much to tell us about the origin and evolution of the solar system. It also has scientific value as a platform for observational astronomy.