Romania joins the Artemis Accords for the exploration of the Moon and space

Tuesday 1^er March, during a virtual ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania in Bucharest, the President and Director General of the Romanian Space Agency, Marius-Ioan Piso, signed the chords of artemisa document intended, as its subtitle indicates, to define the ” principles of cooperation in the civil exploration and use of the Moon, Marchcomets and asteroids for peaceful purposes “. This ceremony took place in the presence of David Muniz, the American charge d’affaires in Romania, while Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, attended it virtually.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to send astronauts back to the moon in the course of the decade to establish a sustainable human presence and includes plans for a space stationthe Gateway, in orbit around our satellite. Marius-Ioan Piso said Romania’s signing of the agreements was a way to inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers for the country and the world.

The Artemis Accords: already 16 partner countries

NASA and the US State Department unveiled the Artemis Accords in May 2020. On October 13 of the same year, eight countries have signed these agreements: Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and United States. Since then, eight other countries have joined them: Ukraine, South Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Israel and now Romania. According to NASA, more countries are expected to join the Artemis Accords in the months and years to come.

Artemis I, the first mission of the Artemis program, is scheduled for May or June this year and will use the first launcher super heavy Space Launch System to send a Orion capsule around the Moon. Artemis II is intended to lead, in 2024, the first crew of the program in lunar orbit and Artemis III should sign the return ofastronauts on the surface of the moonbut not before 2025 or even 2026.