Zürcher Nachrichten - Europe shoots for the moon with role in NASA programme

EUR -
AED 3.823067
AFN 73.044829
ALL 98.563502
AMD 415.895201
ANG 1.874037
AOA 949.259048
ARS 1069.202212
AUD 1.668302
AWG 1.873537
AZN 1.83917
BAM 1.956465
BBD 2.099514
BDT 124.262238
BGN 1.957858
BHD 0.392333
BIF 3074.106551
BMD 1.040854
BND 1.412641
BOB 7.185442
BRL 6.470832
BSD 1.039853
BTN 88.54585
BWP 14.441909
BYN 3.402957
BYR 20400.734368
BZD 2.092411
CAD 1.495342
CDF 2987.249882
CHF 0.936979
CLF 0.037325
CLP 1029.904142
CNY 7.596984
CNH 7.604702
COP 4552.600819
CRC 527.979464
CUC 1.040854
CUP 27.582626
CVE 110.340139
CZK 25.098056
DJF 185.172942
DKK 7.463549
DOP 63.34153
DZD 140.647807
EGP 52.918567
ERN 15.612807
ETB 132.398003
FJD 2.413375
FKP 0.824337
GBP 0.82992
GEL 2.92495
GGP 0.824337
GHS 15.291
GIP 0.824337
GMD 74.941528
GNF 8987.05477
GTQ 8.012687
GYD 217.553948
HKD 8.085035
HNL 26.41998
HRK 7.465946
HTG 135.933555
HUF 411.693074
IDR 16875.362566
ILS 3.799361
IMP 0.824337
INR 88.873562
IQD 1362.16301
IRR 43806.933362
ISK 145.251299
JEP 0.824337
JMD 162.01507
JOD 0.738279
JPY 163.753429
KES 134.394981
KGS 90.554007
KHR 4178.416673
KMF 485.167994
KPW 936.767833
KRW 1517.023168
KWD 0.32077
KYD 0.866595
KZT 538.693106
LAK 22740.72975
LBP 93117.751445
LKR 306.46417
LRD 189.324382
LSL 19.335172
LTL 3.073371
LVL 0.629602
LYD 5.104735
MAD 10.486264
MDL 19.185521
MGA 4904.667134
MKD 61.550922
MMK 3380.652522
MNT 3536.821057
MOP 8.318628
MRU 41.51011
MUR 48.993139
MVR 16.03087
MWK 1803.112892
MXN 21.011455
MYR 4.670284
MZN 66.514439
NAD 19.335172
NGN 1604.621988
NIO 38.263006
NOK 11.81876
NPR 141.621138
NZD 1.843802
OMR 0.400466
PAB 1.039853
PEN 3.872116
PGK 4.220435
PHP 60.985684
PKR 289.4917
PLN 4.261854
PYG 8109.756569
QAR 3.783322
RON 4.979757
RSD 117.008668
RUB 103.961897
RWF 1450.593068
SAR 3.908552
SBD 8.726055
SCR 14.848747
SDG 626.073723
SEK 11.533055
SGD 1.414106
SHP 0.824337
SLE 23.734717
SLL 21826.186791
SOS 594.302008
SRD 36.490207
STD 21543.572066
SVC 9.099093
SYP 2615.176637
SZL 19.343575
THB 35.545453
TJS 11.380187
TMT 3.653397
TND 3.316886
TOP 2.437785
TRY 36.62674
TTD 7.066402
TWD 34.035403
TZS 2518.866428
UAH 43.60062
UGX 3806.293789
USD 1.040854
UYU 46.30153
UZS 13424.563113
VES 53.68216
VND 26463.707719
VUV 123.572247
WST 2.875658
XAF 656.180041
XAG 0.035175
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.81296
XDR 0.797271
XOF 656.180041
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.603777
ZAR 19.420698
ZMK 9368.931624
ZMW 28.777782
ZWL 335.154497
  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

Europe shoots for the moon with role in NASA programme
Europe shoots for the moon with role in NASA programme / Photo: FOCKE STRANGMANN - AFP

Europe shoots for the moon with role in NASA programme

European astronauts could walk on the Moon for the first time in the coming years, in exchange for the continent taking on a key role in an ambitious NASA space programme.

Text size:

The US space agency's Artemis programme aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the historic Apollo missions, which ended in 1972.

For the first time, the European Space Agency (ESA) and European aerospace giant Airbus have been entrusted with supplying vital "service modules" (ESMs) for NASA's Orion spacecraft.

In exchange, Europe has three guaranteed seats on the mission's flights, probably from 2027, although discussions are ongoing to try to get earlier spots.

The role of the Europeans is vital -- they are providing "half of the spacecraft that will take people to the Moon and, of course, back to Earth safely," said Marc Steckling, Airbus's head of space exploration.

The modules are critical to power the spacecraft, providing electricity from solar panels, and other vital supplies such as water and oxygen.

Cylinders measuring about four by four metres with about 22,000 parts and weighing about 12 tons, the modules are put together at Airbus's site in Bremen, northern Germany.

Once assembled and safety tests are completed, they are transferred to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The ESMs can also provide manoeuvring capability, and could even carry additional cargo to a planned space station in orbit around the Moon, called Gateway.

- 'Open history book' -

The two-billion-euro ($2.1 billion) project is running smoothly, and Airbus is on track to meet NASA's requirement of delivering one ESM a year, according to Steckling.

Supporters of the idea of sending humans back to the Moon say it could prove vital in scientific research.

Alexander Gerst, a German astronaut who has done two stints on the International Space Station, described the Moon as an "open history book".

"We can learn how Earth was actually formed and how it came into existence," he said.

A first Artemis mission wrapped up successfully in December, with an uncrewed Orion capsule returning safely to Earth after a more than 25-day journey around the Moon.

The Artemis 2 mission, planned for 2024, will take a crew towards the Moon but still without landing on it.

Artemis 3, scheduled for 2025, will see a spacecraft land for the first time on the south pole of the Moon, where they hope to find water in the form of ice. The space agency thereafter aims to launch one mission per year.

As part of the Artemis missions, NASA is planning to send a woman and a person of colour to the Moon for the first time.

Only 12 people -- all of them white men -- have set foot on the Moon, and that was during the Apollo missions.

- 'Repository of history' -

NASA hopes to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon, and later launch a years-long trip to Mars.

Philippe Berthe, European Space Agency project coordination manager for the modules, said the Moon had resources that could be exploited such as ice that could be used to make fuel, particularly at its south pole.

"The moon is a repository of history of the solar system since its creation, which has remained relatively untouched since there is no atmosphere, no erosion," he told AFP.

Whereas in the 1960s the space race was between the Soviet Union and Washington, China has now emerged as the United States's chief rival in the intergalactic arena with its own ambitious programme.

But such rivalry -- "a little bit of a scientific competition" -- isn't necessarily a bad thing, believes Gerst.

R.Schmid--NZN