"Lunar Armada": Countries Racing To Space Again...

Behind 18 inches of concrete in stainless steel cabinets flushed with pure nitrogen rests a material rarer than gold, more valuable than diamonds.

Not even NASA curator Gary Lofgren knows both combinations to the Johnson Space Center's vault that contains 600 pounds of lunar rocks and soil.

Of late, Lofgren has noticed something unusual -- there's been a run on moon dirt. Gram by precious gram, he's been doling out samples to researchers around the world eager to study the desolate orb again.

Thirty-four years after the last Apollo astronaut walked on the lunar surface, a new space race is underway.

It will be a long race, with humans unlikely to set foot on the moon again in the next 10 to 15 years. But countries are gearing up to take their first steps.

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