Space Policy Online reports that NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have entered into an agreement that would include a Canadian astronaut participating in the Artemis II mission, which would bring four astronauts around the moon in 2023. The Artemis II would precede the Artemis. III mission to land on the moon the following year, even though most think that date is unrealistic.
Other parts of the agreement involved the development and installation of a Canadian-built robotic arm on the Lunar Gateway, the planned orbital transfer station on the moon. A second Canadian astronaut will be on a mission to the Lunar Gateway.
The yet to be identified Canadian astronaut will be the first non-American to venture outside low Earth orbit. The recording illustrates that Artemis is not your grandfather’s lunar exploration program. The international aspects of the 21st century moonshot have long-standing precedent. As early as 1984, when President Ronald Reagan announced the project that eventually became the International Space Station, Canada, Japan, and the countries of Western Europe were included as partners. Later, President Bill Clinton brought in Russia as a partner for the space station.
The Apollo race to the moon was conducted to prove America’s technological superiority over the Soviet Union. The program has succeeded brilliantly in this. The Soviets never recovered from the humiliation.
The Artemis program has a similar but more subtle political purpose. By returning astronauts to the moon and soliciting international participation in the venture, the United States is seeking to establish itself as the world leader in space exploration. America also expects to amass a lot of international goodwill by inviting other countries to join Artemis, including their subjects who walk on the moon alongside Americans.
Artemis will show China, which also has lunar ambitions, that the country that landed humans 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, because of its unrelenting hostility to the United States and the rest of the Western world, is in no way a candidate for a space exploration partnership.
The third goal of Artemis’ international partnerships is to prevent the incoming Biden administration from canceling the project. By listing international partners for Artemis, the Trump administration hopes to prevent a cancellation of the project by Biden. Team Biden has made a big deal about Trump’s withdrawal from international agreements, such as the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal. Given that rhetoric, it wouldn’t be right if the future Biden broke the agreements, including the Artemis Accords, which try to define good behavior in space.
Jim Bridenstine
James (Jim) Frederick Bridenstine NASA selects the next Artemis moonwalkers while SpaceX pilots a spaceship. First to Break the Sound Barrier, Chuck Yeager Dies at 97 The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented By Facebook – Congress Faces End-of-Year Crisis; Biden elects his Defense Secretary MORE, the outgoing NASA administrator, has proven its worth by negotiating the various Artemis agreements. His latest achievement, alongside the Canadian agreement, was to persuade Brazil to join the growing list of countries that are part of the Artemis Accords.
Ironically, the Senate Committee Democrats before the Trade Commission slammed Bridenstine during his confirmation hearings, claiming that instead of a politician (he was a congressman at the time), NASA needed an “aviation professional” as its leader. Bridenstine won confirmation anyway. Since then, he has used his political skills to gain not only Artemis’ endorsement but international support as well.
Bridenstine has pledged to step down as NASA administrator once Biden is sworn in as president of the United States. The decision is a tragedy because the former congressman and naval aviator has so well taken charge of the space agency, winning even his former critics. Whoever Team Biden chooses to replace Bridenstine, he or she should be someone with the skills and passion to bring Artemis home Kathy Lueders, the current head of NASA’s manned spaceflights, including Artemis and the commercial crew program, comes to mind .
As for Bridenstine, perhaps he could be offered the position of special envoy for space exploration so that he can continue his diplomatic work to build the Artemis Alliance to return to the moon.
Many astronauts from other countries will follow that first Canadian into space. They come from Europe, Asia and probably even the Middle East. America went to the moon alone 50 years ago, in front of the world. This time, she will lead the world back to the lunar surface and gain so much international influence and credibility.
Mark Whittington, who writes extensively on space and politics, has published a political study on space exploration entitled Why Is Going Back To The Moon So Hard? as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond. He blogs on Curmudgeon’s Corner.” He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times and the Washington Post, among others.