The Great British Moon Landing? NASA says it will include an international astronaut on its mission to the lunar surface by the end of the decade
- NASA says that one of the astronauts to walk on the Moon will be non-American
- The first mission to land on the moon is expected no earlier than 2027
A British astronaut might be one of the first people to walk on the Moon in over 50 years.
NASA has announced that one international astronaut will join an American mission to the moon by the end of the decade.
This decision would make the chosen crew member the first non-American to ever set foot on the Moon.
However, there are no further clues on the identity or nationality of the astronaut.
In a statement, NASA said that it will ‘make specific crew assignments closer to each mission as the mission parameters and crew criteria are defined.’
All 12 people to walk on the Moon have been American men, but this decision could open the door for the first British person to join this exclusive club
READ MORE: Tim Peake could end his retirement after just 9 MONTHS to lead the UK’s first team into space
The agreement came as part of a meeting of the National Space Council convened by Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
Speaking at the council, Ms Harris said: ‘Today in recognition of the essential role that our allies and partners play in the Artemis program, I’m proud to announce that, alongside American astronauts, we intend to land an international astronaut on the surface of the moon by the end of the decade.’
However, in November, NASA reportedly told the British Government that it was ‘incredibly possible’ that a British astronaut could be selected.
If a British astronaut were selected, the most likely contenders would be Tim Peake or one of the three Brits recently selected for the European Space Agency’s 2023 astronaut programme.
If a British astronaut were selected, the most likely contenders would be Tim Peake (pictured) or one of the three Brits recently selected for the European Space Agency’s 2023 astronaut programme.
Tim Peake, dubbed Britain’s first spaceman, has recently been focusing an ambassadorial work but has said he would like to walk on the Moon in his lifetime.
The other three potential moonwalkers are John McFall, 42, a surgical trainee and Paralympic medallist; Meganne Christian, 35, a materials scientist originally from Kent; and Rosemary Coogan, 32, an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland.
John McFall, who lost his leg below the knee in a motorbike accident, was recently filmed undergoing weightlessness training and has been called the first ‘parastronaut’.
Rosemary Coogan, 32, is from Belfast but went to school in Brighton and has two masters degrees in physics from the University of Durham.
From a young age, she spent several weeks a year away from home onboard military training vessels and land bases as a Cadet Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets from 2002 to 2009.
Rosemary Coogan (left) and Meganne Christian (middle) and John McFall (right) have been selected for the European Space Agency’s 2023 astronaut program and are strong contenders for the first British moonwalker
Meanwhile, Meganne Christian, 35, was born in Kent but moved to Australia at a young age and studied at the University of New South Wales.
The materials scientist has worked at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna and as a researcher at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth.
This is not the first time that NASA has included international astronauts on trips to space.
The space agency has partnered with the European, Japanese, and Russian space agencies for decades to send crews to the international space station.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced that an international astronaut would join an American in landing on the Moon before the end of the decade
The Artemis II mission will see four lucky crew members take a 10-day journey around the moon in NASA’s deep space Orion capsule, gathering vital knowledge on the lunar surface
READ MORE: Humans will be living on the MOON by 2030, NASA official claims
Recently, NASA announced that Artemis II, the second leg of the agency’s new Moon mission, would include a Canadian astronaut.
Canadian Jeremy Hansen will join American astronauts flying around the moon when the mission launches around November 2024.
Hansen, who introduced Ms Harris at the council, said that including international partners ‘is not only sincerely appreciated, but it is urgently needed in the world today,’ Hansen told the council.
However, Mr Hansen and the crew of Artemis II will not touchdown on the lunar surface.
The crew will instead make a full orbit of the Moon in an Orion capsule, gathering data on the Moon’s surface and testing the spacecraft’s life support systems.
This will lay the groundwork for the first people to walk on the Moon since NASA closed the Apollo Program in 1972.
An Orion capsule will take a crew of four astronauts into lunar orbit.
However, only two astronauts will actually get to walk on the moon while the others remain onboard the capsule or on a small space station called Gateway.
One American and one international astronaut will join the elite club of ‘moon-walkers’, which currently consists of 12 American men.
The mission is not anticipated until 2027 at the earliest.
The Artemis II crew consists of Christina Koch (far left), Victor Glover (top middle), Jeremy Hansen (far right), and Reid Wiseman (bottom middle)
NASA has long stressed the need for global cooperation in space, establishing the Artemis Accords along with the U.S. State Department in 2020 to promote responsible behaviour not just on the moon but everywhere in space.
Representatives from all 33 countries that have signed the accords so far were expected at the Space Council’s meeting in Washington.
‘We know from experience that collaboration on space delivers,’ said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, citing the Webb Space Telescope, a US, European and Canadian effort.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Harris also announced new policies to ensure the safe use of space as more and more private companies and countries aim skyward.
The issues that the US is looking to resolve include the climate crisis and the growing amount of space junk around Earth.
A 2021 anti-satellite missile test by Russia added more than 1,500 pieces of potentially dangerous orbiting debris, and Blinken joined others at the meeting in calling for all nations to end such destructive testing.
Meet the astronauts tipped to fly into space with Tim Peake
Three Britons – including the world’s first ever ‘parastronaut’ – are among the European Space Agency’s first new cohort of astronauts in almost 15 years.
In November 2022, John McFall, Rosemary Coogan and Meganne Christian were named in a class of 17 men and women chosen from a whopping 22,523 applicants.
They will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of current British astronaut Tim Peake, who spent six months on the International Space Station (ISS) almost a decade ago.
Here’s a closer look at the three adventurers, who may be joined by Major Peake himself on a trip to the ISS.
John McFall
Britain’s John McFall was named as the world’s first ‘parastronaut’ last November
John McFall, 42, is a British father-of-three, surgical trainee and Paralympic medallist.
Originally from Frimley in Surrey, Mr McFall had his right leg amputated following a motorcycle accident in Thailand in 2000.
He was fitted with a prosthesis and is now working with the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate how such a disability could affect a stint in space.
He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing among other honours, before retiring to take up his medical studies at Cardiff University.
He has put his medical career on hold to work with ESA and follow his ‘passion for science and life’.
Rosemary Theresa Coogan is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland
Rosemary Coogan
Rosemary Coogan, 32, is an astrophysicist originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
She attended school in Brighton and gained two master’s degrees from the University of Durham.
One of these focused on physics, mathematics, computer programming and astronomy, and the other on gamma-ray emission from black holes.
Coogan moved to the University of Sussex as a doctoral researcher, studying galaxy evolution and the activity of active galactic nuclei.
From a young age, she spent several weeks a year away from home onboard military training vessels and land bases as a Cadet Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets from 2002 to 2009.
Meganne studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
Meganne Christian
Meganne Christian, 35, is a materials scientist graduate from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
She was born in Pembury in Kent but moved to Australia at a young age and attended Illawarra Grammar School in Wollongong.
She said she was inspired to become an astronaut when one visited her school.
The materials scientist has worked at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna and as a researcher at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth.
According to ESA, Meganne received several national awards for outstanding research in the field of engineering and industrial chemistry.
In addition to British and Italian citizenship, she also holds Australian and New Zealand citizenship.
Source: Read Full Article