By Lucie AUBOURG WASHINGTON, April 10, 2024 (AFP) – A lucky Japanese astronaut will become the first non-American to set foot on the Moon during one of NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions, US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday. The offer to Japan — an opportunity many nations have long dreamed of — came as part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s state visit, and as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with its key Asian ally. “Two Japanese […]
Tag: Artemis
One giant step: Moon race heats up
NEW DELHI, Aug 23, 2023 (AFP) – India became the first nation to successfully land a craft on the Moon’s south pole on Wednesday, the latest milestone in a renewed push for lunar exploration that has drawn in both the world’s top space powers and new players. New Delhi’s attempt came days after the crash-landing on the Moon of Russia’s Luna-25 probe. Here is the latest on various missions to the celestial body: – India’s […]
What will the Artemis Moon base look like?
Colorado Springs, United States By Lucie AUBOURG The next time NASA goes to the Moon, it intends to stay. Under the Artemis program, the US space agency plans to maintain a human presence, for the very first time, on a celestial body other than Earth. But building a lunar base is no small feat. It will need power generators, vehicles and habitats, and the space industry is racing to meet the technological challenges. “It’s the […]
NASA shoots for the Moon, on its way to Mars
by Lucie AUBOURG Agence France Presse UNITED STATES (AFP) — NASA’s most powerful rocket yet is set to blast off Monday on the maiden voyage of a mission to take humans back to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, the space program called Artemis is to get under way with the blast off of the uncrewed 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at 8:33 am (1233 […]
US targeting Feb. 2022 to launch new lunar program Artemis
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA is aiming to launch its uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1 in February next year, the space agency said Friday, the first step in America’s plan to return humans to the Moon. The agency had initially hoped to launch the test flight by the end of this year, with astronauts set to walk on the Moon by 2024. It achieved a major milestone Wednesday when it stacked the Orion […]
NASA suspends work on Moon rocket due to virus
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA said it has suspended work on building and testing the rocket and capsule for its Artemis manned mission to the Moon due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the community. The space agency is shutting down its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where the Space Launch System rocket is being built, and the nearby Stennis Space Center, administrator Jim Bridenstine said late Thursday. “The change at […]
NASA dubs 2024 Moon mission ‘Artemis,’ asks for $1.6 billion
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — NASA’s next mission to the Moon will be called Artemis, the US space agency announced Monday, though it’s still looking for the money to make the journey happen by its accelerated 2024 deadline. In March, US President Donald Trump’s administration moved the date for the next American lunar mission up by four years from its original goal of 2028 while pledging to get a female astronaut to the Moon’s surface […]





