The first ever European can set foot on the surface of the Moon in 2028 - ESA astronaut has joined the Artemis IV mission

The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially announced that astronauts from Europe will participate in the Artemis lunar programme, which includes several manned missions with a landing on the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.

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ESA has given NASA the service modules for the Orion spacecraft and the future Lunar Gateway station, which is due to be built in the moon's orbit in the coming years. In return, NASA included European astronauts in the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions.

The federal space agency has agreed to send three astronauts from Europe to the moon. The Artemis IV and Artemis V missions are scheduled for 2028 and 2029, respectively. When the third astronaut will go to the Moon is still unknown. And it is far from certain that Artemis IV and Artemis V will take place on time.

Together with the United States, 26 other countries will be engaged in the study of the Moon. The last to join the project were Ecuador and India, which in early summer signed an agreement called Artemis Accords. China and Russia were not included in this list.

Now there is a high probability that NASA will be able to make only one landing on the Moon by 2028. The agency is experiencing problems of a financial nature. In addition, SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is still not ready.

But if all goes according to plan, in 2024, astronauts will fly around the moon on the Orion spacecraft. The crew consists of three Americans and one Canadian. The first landing so far is scheduled for 2025 as part of the Artemis III programme.

Source: space