Cosmic Battlegrounds, Year-Long Missions, and Einstein’s Real-Life Time Travel

For more than half a century, the United States has held ultimate cosmic bragging rights as the only nation to put boots on the lunar surface. But that space monopoly is rapidly coming to an end. China is executing a methodical, high-stakes strategy to land its own astronauts on the Moon by 2030, turning our quiet celestial neighbor into a competitive frontier for national pride and vital resources like water ice. Brent blasts off with our resident astronomy expert David Reneke to dissect the escalating global space race. David sheds light on the successful launch of China's Shenzhou-23 mission to the Tiangong space station, featuring Lai Ka-ying—the history-making first astronaut selected from Hong Kong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.