From a Washington Post story by Christian Davenport headlined “As Russian and Indian lunar landings near, the moon rush gets crowded”:

The moon may be dead and desolate, but it is now the hottest real estate in the solar system, generating interest from countries across the globe eager to demonstrate their technological prowess and aid humanity in understanding its closest celestial neighbor.

Next week, spacecraft from Russia and India are scheduled to touch down on the lunar surface, the latest in an international caravan of robotic spacecraft that have headed to the moon in recent years. They would be followed by the launch of a small lander to the moon by the Japanese space agency in an effort to test precise landing techniques that could be used in future missions.