TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The European Space Agency (ESA) and the United States (NASA) discussed the possibility of sending the first European astronauts to the Moon. This was stated when the two signed an agreement strengthening collaboration for future lunar exploration.
They had an initial agreement that three European astronauts would fly aboard the Orion spacecraft to NASA’s Gateway, a space station that would orbit the Moon as part of the Program. Artemis. Now it looks like one of those astronauts is going a step further.
“We look forward to ESA astronauts joining us on the lunar surface and continuing to build on our longstanding joint partnership,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson after a meeting with the ESA Council in the Netherlands.
Nelson added that NASA is counting on working with ESA to drive exploration of the Moon through the Artemis program. It also said, “The European Services Module is the powerhouse of the Orion spacecraft.”
NASA and ESA also signed an agreement on the Lunar Pathfinder, a communications satellite under construction by British company SSTL. ESA purchased the SSTL service last year and will provide communications on the Moon under a NASA deal. In return, NASA will launch Pathfinder into orbit.
The two space agencies will also conduct joint tests to create a satellite navigation network on the Moon. “As today, we navigate using Galileo and GPS on Earth,” reads the ESA statement.
In addition, they also discussed the future of ESA’s ExoMars mission, after a planned launch using a Russian rocket later this year was canceled due to the war in Ukraine. ESA previously said it hopes to work with NASA to launch the mission, which will unearth signs of life on Mars.
Nelson said that “NASA is determining how best to support our European friends in the ExoMars mission”. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said at a press conference that intensive discussions were being held on the same issue.
PHYS.ORG
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