Space Policy on the Internet Reports That NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have entered into an agreement that, among other things, will include a Canadian astronaut on the Artemis II mission, which is envisaged to take four astronauts around the moon in 2023. Artemis II will precede the Artemis III mission to land on the moon the following year, Although most of them believe that this date is not realistic.

Other parts of the agreement relate to the development and installation of a Canadian-made robotic arm on the Moon Gate, the planned Lunar Orbital Transfer Station. A second Canadian astronaut will go on a mission to … Moon gate.

The yet unidentified Canadian astronaut will be the first non-American astronaut to venture outside low-Earth orbit. The inclusion states that Artemis is not your grandfather’s moon exploration program. International aspects of the twenty-first century have a long precedent. As far back as 1984, when President Ronald Reagan announced The project that eventually became the International Space Station, Canada, Japan and Western European countries were included as partners. Later, Mr. President Bill Clinton brought Russia As a partner of the space station.

The Apollo Race to the Moon was conducted to demonstrate America’s technological superiority over the Soviet Union. The program succeeded brilliantly in achieving this goal. The Soviets did not recover from the humiliation.

The Artemis program has a similar but more nuanced political purpose. By returning astronauts to the moon and requesting international participation in the mission, the United States is seeking to cement its position as a global leader in space exploration. America also expects to gain a great deal of international goodwill by inviting other nations to participate in Artemis, which will include their subjects walking on the moon alongside the Americans.

Artemis will prove to China, which also has lunar ambitions, that the country that landed men on the moon 50 years ago still has what it takes to do the same now. Now as then, the United States is the world leader in space exploration. China, due to its violent hostility to the United States and the rest of the Western world, is by no means a candidate for the Space Exploration Partnership.

The third purpose of Artemis‘ international partnerships is to prevent the incoming Biden administration from canceling the project. With international partners lining up for Artemis, the Trump administration hopes to make Biden’s cancellation of the project impossible. The Biden team raised the big issue of Trump’s withdrawal from international agreements, such as the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal. It wouldn’t be a good look, given this rhetoric, if a future Biden breached agreements, including The Agreements of Artemis, Which seeks to define what constitutes good behavior in space.

Jim BridensteinJames (Jim) Frederick Bridenstein NASA picks the next Artemis astronauts on the surface of the Moon While SpaceX flies the Starship plane first to break the sound barrier, Chuck Yeager dies at 97 The Hill’s Morning Report – submitted by Facebook – Congress faces an end-of-year crisis Biden chooses his defense secretary more, The outgoing NASA administrator, proved his worth by negotiating various Artemis agreements. His latest achievement alongside the Canadian agreement, He was to impress Brazil To join the growing list of countries that have become part of the Artemis Agreements.

Ironically, the Democrats have the Senate Trade Committee Criticize Bridenstine during his hearings, claiming that instead of a politician (he was a congressman at the time), NASA needed an „aviation specialist“ as a leader. Bridenstein got the confirmation anyway. Since then, he has used his political skills not only to win bipartisan congressional approval for Artemis, but also to gain international support.

Bridenstein pledged to step down as NASA administrator once Biden was sworn in as President of the United States. The decision is a tragedy because the former congressman and marine pilot has done so well at the space agency that he has won over his former critics. Whoever chooses the Biden team to replace Bridenstein, it has to be someone with the skill set and the passion to bring Artemis home. Cathy Loaders, The current head of NASA’s human spaceflight effort, which includes Artemis and the commercial crew program, comes to mind.

As for Bridenstein, he may be offered the position of special envoy for space exploration, so that he can continue his diplomatic work in building Artemis‘ alliance to return to the moon.

Several astronauts from other countries will follow the first Canadian in deep space. They will come from Europe, Asia, and maybe even the Middle East. America went to the moon alone, before the eyes of the world, 50 years ago. This time you will lead the world to the surface of the moon and thus gain a lot of international influence and credibility.

Mark Whittington, who writes a lot on space and politics, published a political study of space exploration titled Why is it difficult to return to the moon? as long „Moon, Mars and beyond. It is blogged in Corner of the foxes.It was published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, among other places.