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Context

• As NASA makes strides to return humans to the lunar surface under Artemis Mission, the agency announced plans to create opportunities for commercial companies other than Space X to develop an astronaut Moon lander.

Artemis program

• The Artemis program that began in 2017 is a United States-led international human spaceflight program.
• Its primary goal is to take humans to the Moon, specifically the lunar south pole, by 2025.

Details

• For the Artemis program, NASA’s new rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft away from Earth to the lunar orbit.
• Once astronauts dock Orion at the Gateway — which is a small spaceship in orbit around the moon — the astronauts will be able to live and work around the Moon, and from the spaceship, astronauts will take expeditions to the surface of the Moon.
• The astronauts going for the Artemis program will wear newly designed spacesuits, called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU. These spacesuits feature advanced mobility and communications and interchangeable parts that can be configured for spacewalks in microgravity or on a planetary surface.

Organizations involved

• The Artemis program is carried out predominantly by NASA and U.S. commercial spaceflight contractors, in partnership with the European Space Agency and the space agencies of several other nations.
• Other countries have been invited to join the program through signing the governing Artemis Accords, which remain open for signature since October 2020.

Artemis Accords

• This accord ensures that space exploration is conducted in a safe, sustainable and transparent manner and in full compliance with international law.
• As more countries establish a presence in outer space, via research stations, satellites, or even rocket launches, these accords provide a set of principles to create a safe and transparent environment that inspires exploration, science, and commercial activities.
• The other signatories to the accords are the U.S., Australia, Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Ukraine. Brazil also said it plans to sign.

Final Thought

• If successful, the Artemis program will include the first crewed lunar landing mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, the last lunar flight of the Apollo program.
• The program will lay the foundations for the extraction of lunar resources, and eventually, make crewed missions to Mars and beyond feasible.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-provides-update-to-astronaut-moon-lander-plans-under-artemis

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