An international astronaut is expected to join American astronauts for NASA's moon landing mission. However, at present, the identity of the moonwalker remains unknown.
International Astronaut For NASA's Moon Landing Mission
According to a deal revealed on Wednesday by NASA and the White House, a foreign astronaut will travel to the Moon to join American astronauts before the end of the decade. The announcement was made as Vice President Kamala Harris called the National Space Council's third meeting in Washington during the Biden administration.
The name of the international moonwalker remained a mystery, as did the nation that would be represented. Later, a NASA spokesperson stated that no promises to another nation had been made and that people would be assigned closer to the lunar landing missions.
For many years, NASA has sent multinational astronauts on space missions. Canadian Jeremy Hansen will travel around the Moon in about a year with three American astronauts.
It would be the first lunar landing by astronauts in over 50 years if another crew managed to land. The mission is unlikely to happen before 2027.
During NASA's Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s, all twelve moonwalkers were citizens of the United States. Artemis, after Apollo's mythological twin sister, is the name of the space agency's latest lunar exploration mission.
Assuring the council that involving foreign partners "is not only sincerely appreciated, but it is urgently needed in the world today," Hansen stated.
NASA, which established the Artemis Accords with the United States, has long emphasized the necessity for international cooperation in space. In 2020, the State Department will encourage responsible conduct across space, not only on the Moon.
At the Space Council meeting in Washington, officials were from all 33 of the signatory nations. Russia and China are not part of the Artemis Accords and are the only countries, aside from the United States, to launch their citizens into orbit.
"We know from experience that collaboration on space delivers," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, citing the Webb Space Telescope, a U.S., European and Canadian effort.
NASA Vs. CNA's Race To Moon
The Artemis Accords were founded in 2020 by the Department of State and seven other founding members. The accords uphold the Rescue and Return Agreement, the Registration Convention, and the best practices and standards of responsible conduct, including publicizing scientific data, which support the United States and member nations.
Through the Artemis mission, NASA hopes to accomplish several firsts for science, land the first woman and person of color on the Moon, and explore a greater area of the Moon than has previously been done.
Even though NASA is in charge of Artemis, international cooperation will be essential to building a solid and reliable presence on the Moon so that NASA can prepare for the first-ever manned mission to Mars.
Beijing and Washington, who both want to send men to the Moon, are at war about who will be their ally in the future space competition. China has been seeking support from other nations, though less successful than the U.S., since announcing in 2021 that it will work with Russia on the ILRS. Signatories to Artemis include traditional U.S. allies like Japan and the U.K. and China's fellow BRICS members, Brazil and India.
The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA) signed a memorandum of cooperation on Wednesday, and it is expected that this Chinese-backed facility will begin operations in 2030China, collaborating with other countries on ILRS: re Belarus, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Venezuela, Russia, and South Africa.
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