Chandrayaan-3 vs. Luna-25: Are India and Russia racing to the moon's south pole?

Left image: lab technicians in clean suits work on a gold-foil-wrapped spacecraft. Right image: gold and black Indian moon lander, rover and its ferry spacecraft in a clean room

It’s been touted as a race to the lunar south pole, but there's much more to India's and Russia’s moon shots than who lands first.

India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander launched on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on Aug. 5. It is currently lowering its orbit in preparation for a landing attempt that's expected to occur on Aug. 23.