NASA and the White House have announced an agreement that will see an astronaut from an international team joining American astronauts in a moon mission by the end of the decade.

Vice President Kamala Harris held a meeting in Washington for the National Space Council, marking the third time this has occurred during the Biden administration.

The identity of the international astronaut who will walk on the moon and the country they will represent was not mentioned. According to a spokesperson for NASA, the crew assignments for the lunar landing missions will be decided at a later date and no agreements have been made with any other country yet.

For many years, NASA has been including astronauts from other countries on their space missions. In about a year’s time, Canadian Jeremy Hansen will join three American astronauts on a trip around the moon.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office predicts that another crew will successfully land on the moon in 2027, marking the first time astronauts have done so in over 50 years.

All twelve individuals who walked on the moon as part of NASA’s Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s were citizens of the United States. The new moon exploration program of the space agency is called Artemis, in honor of the mythological twin sister of Apollo.

Hansen emphasized the importance of having international partners, stating that their involvement is not only greatly valued, but also crucial in today’s world.

NASA has emphasized the importance of worldwide collaboration in outer space. In 2020, they partnered with the U.S. State Department to create the Artemis Accords, which aim to encourage responsible conduct not only on the moon, but also in all areas of space. The meeting of the space council in Washington was anticipated to include delegates from all 33 nations that have currently signed the accords.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted the success of collaboration in space, using the Webb Space Telescope as an example, which involved efforts from the United States, Europe, and Canada.

The Artemis Accords do not include Russia and China, who are the only other countries that have sent their citizens into space besides the United States. Russia works with NASA to operate the International Space Station, along with Europe, Japan, and Canada. In the 1990s, the Russian and U.S. space agencies collaborated by launching each other’s astronauts to Russia’s Mir station during the shuttle program.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Harris shared new measures to promote the responsible use of space as private companies and countries continue to focus on space exploration. The United States is specifically addressing concerns about the climate emergency and the increasing amount of space debris surrounding Earth. In 2021, Russia’s anti-satellite missile test resulted in over 1,500 pieces of potentially hazardous debris in orbit. Blinken and other attendees urged all nations to cease destructive testing.

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Source: wral.com