POT will add foreign astronauts to its missions to the Moon. At the moment, the US space agency and the White House have confirmed this. They plan to include one on the crew of one of their missions later this decade..
Although NASA has included foreign astronauts on other space missions, this will be the first time it has taken them to lunar soil. A spokeswoman for the organization explained that details will become known closer to the moon landing. At the moment, he said, there are no obligations with any country.
“We know from experience that cooperation in space produces results.”said Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State. As an example, he cited the James Webb Space Telescope, a joint project of the United States, Europe and Canada.
Canadian Jeremy Hansen will be part of the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which will orbit the moon in about a year. This is one of the previous stages of the lunar landing program.which is initially planned for the end of 2025.. The goal is to test the capabilities of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
Artemis 3 will be the first manned mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, but things are not going as well as expected. This month, the US Government Accountability Office released a report saying it is “unlikely” that Artemis lThe ogre will return people to the moon by 2027. The project has made progress “but still faces challenges,” the agency said.
NASA delays flight to the moon
NASA faced delays in flight testing, development of the human landing system and space suits, the Government Accountability Office noted in its analysis. To this should be added possible failures Starship, from SpaceX. The Artemis III lunar lander will be based on a ship developed by Elon Musk’s company, which has not yet been able to enter low-Earth orbit.
Let’s not forget that Starship’s first test in April ended in an explosion, failing to separate from the super-heavy rocket. Although stage separation was achieved in November, the flight again ended in a large fireball.
So before it can determine which foreign astronaut it will invite, NASA still has to secure its first flight. In fact, the Artemis III crew that will set foot on the Moon has not yet been determined.. It has been confirmed that this is Artemis II, which will enter orbit of our natural satellite in 2024. This is a historic team as it includes the first woman to walk on the moon and the first black crew member.
While addressing all the technical needs, NASA is also working diligently to achieve international support for the Artemis Accords. This is an agreement that the United States has been promoting since 2020 to establish guidelines for lunar exploration. They also mention possible missions to Mars, comets and asteroids.
NASA and the US government have already achieved the signing of the document by 32 countries. The list includes Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Germany, among the others. But India is the only space power to join the US plan; Russia and China, which have their own plans to fly to the Moon, rejected this initiative.
Source: Hiper Textual
