US Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed that NASA's Artemis program—which intends to put people back on the moon—will be a global undertaking.
At the National Space Council's third meeting, which Harris led, a resolution was adopted stating that before the end of this decade, a partner country's astronaut would land on the Moon.
The Artemis program aims to bring humans to Mars in the 2030s or 2040s, but it is more than just placing flags and leaving footprints; it's a foundation for space travel to come.
The program aims to create a long-term human presence on the moon by utilizing the combined knowledge and assets of commercial and international partners.
The Artemis Program, a comprehensive initiative to take people to the moon in more than 50 years, was recently signed by India.
NASA has officially announced that, even as the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) continues to build its human spaceflight program, called Gaganyaan, it is already planning to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station.
NASA is still committed to launching the Artemis-II mission by the end of next year, which will take three Americans and one Canadian astronaut on a round-trip lunar journey. However, the agency has not yet disclosed any information regarding which partner nations may get to travel to the moon.
The approach that Nasa has taken includes collaborations which are revolutionary, such as the ESA-European Space Agency which is responsible for providing the service module for the Orion spacecraft.
The Orion is especially designed for the transportation of Artemis astronauts to lunar orbit.
Innovative partnerships are a feature of NASA's strategy; one such partnership is the European Space Agency's (ESA) provision of the Orion spacecraft's service module. The purpose of Orion is to carry Artemis astronauts into lunar orbit. Additionally, Gateway, a planned space station in lunar orbit that will act as a multipurpose outpost for robotic and human missions to the Moon and beyond, is receiving major funding support from ESA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
With the completion of Artemis 1, which successfully launched an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back, the Artemis program has already reached a significant milestone.
