What country will be next to send a probe to the moon?

I presume this question is about establishing a base on the moon to mine for helium-3.

See Wired (December, 2006)
<http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2006/12/72276>

The date in the Wired story for this happening by the US is 2024.

Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel
John Lasker 12.15.06 | 2:00 AM

"NASA's planned moon base announced last week [2006] could pave the way for deeper space exploration to Mars, but one of the biggest beneficiaries may be the terrestrial energy industry.

"Nestled among the agency's 200-point mission goals is a proposal to mine the moon for fuel used in fusion reactors -- futuristic power plants that have been demonstrated in proof-of-concept but are likely decades away from commercial deployment.

"Helium-3 is considered a safe, environmentally friendly fuel candidate for these generators, and while it is scarce on Earth it is plentiful on the moon.

"As a result, scientists have begun to consider the practicality of mining lunar Helium-3 as a replacement for fossil fuels.

"NASA plans to have a permanent moon base by 2024, but America is not the only nation with plans for a moon base. China, India, the European Space Agency, and at least one Russian corporation, Energia, have visions of building manned lunar bases post-2020.

"Mining the moon for helium-3 has been discussed widely in space circles and international space conferences. Both China and Russia have stated their nations' interest in helium-3."

It's a rather vague question IMO. As it stands the next probe to the moon will settle the question.

It should be "Which country will put a human being on the moon next?" I think that's what they were shooting for. The U.S. manned space program has been such joke (due to lack of political will) for the last 30 years it probably will be China. I'd bet on China if I didn't have to wait 15-20 years for the question to settle. I do like the question, though.

I put a few H$ on this question and then asked for settlement requesting it be voided. The US was first to the moon in 1969 (I remember being allowed to "stay up late" to watch it. Live in black-and-white grainy 1969 TV 8^). Hubdub needs a power-user question vetting process to ensure that questions like this are rejected, and the question creator knows why, so they can submit a well-formed question that can be settled fairly.

We're working on it, anaverageamerican! Not long now.

So is this for any kind of probe or a He-3 Probe?

I think that if additional info is not provided, and if the question can be settled without add'l info, then you must take the question literally.

a probe means any probe, no human requirement.

I'm with all of you on what this question should have been, or is not.

By probe I mean an actual touch down on the lunar surface, a probe does not have to be human settig foot on surface.
A fly by will not count as a probe touching dwon on the lunar surface.
Sorry for the vague question.
It will be almost a decade for a human to set foot on the surface again.

Thanks for clarification jacktheseer. This will be the clarification used to settle.

Only US and India have plans to launch lunar impactors this year... why are China and Russia so high??

This link is potentially useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_future_lunar_missions

@jenniandboys: Actually, according to the wikipedia link I provided Russia is scheduled to launch their Luna-Glob lander in 2009, although keeping track of the Russian announcements is sort of confusing... (they've shifted around the year a few times)

Chandrayaan has just launched, so this question is suspended. It will be settled when its probe successfully lands on the moon - predicted to be in about 10 days.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1852608,00.html