A crew of astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — prepared to journey around the Moon for the first time in 50 years on Wednesday, traveling the furthest ever from Earth and heralding a new era of space competition.

The much-delayed Artemis II mission comes 53 years after NASA’s last crewed lunar trip: “We stopped, and then we forgot,” an expert told Scientific American.

Whereas the last space race was defined by symbolic technical achievements by the US and Soviet Union, the next will be defined “more by sustained presence, partnerships, and the ability to shape how activity on the Moon is conducted,” as well as greater contributions by commercial firms, a space law professor wrote.