US Signs Treaty With 7 Countries To Explore Moon and Mars

• NASA has signed a treaty with 7 friendly countries.
• The Artemis Accords is being touted as history’s “broadest and most diverse international human space exploration program.”
• One of the aims is to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, while preparing for a historic human mission to Mars.

The United States has officially signed a treaty with seven other nations to explore and exploit the resources in the moon.

The proposal for Artemis Accords was initially laid down earlier this year in May. Now a NASA press release dated October 13 has confirmed that the program “is taking a step forward” with the signing of the partner countries namely Australia, Canada, Japan, Italy, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Jim Bridenstine, Administrator of NASA, shared:

“Artemis will be the broadest and most diverse international human space exploration program in history, and the Artemis Accords are the vehicle that will establish this singular global coalition.

“With today’s signing, we are uniting with our partners to explore the Moon and are establishing vital principles that will create a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space for all of humanity to enjoy.”

The Artemis program aims to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024 while preparing for a “historic human mission to Mars,” NASA said.

Of course, many observers have pointed out that the lineup of signatories teaming up with the US looks like “an odd mix” as most of them have never landed a spacecraft – or a human being – on the moon.

Also noticeably not included in the treaty are two major countries: China and Russia.

While NASA was quick to mention that more countries are expected to join the treaty within the next few months, Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Russia’s Roscosmos space program, has expressed skepticism about Artemis labelling it as “too US-centric,” adding that Russia “is likely to refrain from participating in it on a large scale.”

Watch this interview with Mike Gold, NASA’s Acting Associate administrator for international and inter-agency relations: