NASA wants India to join lunar mission

NASA officials are expressing interest in involving India in the Artemis Accords, an American-led initiative to return humans to the Moon by 2025 and expand space exploration to Mars and beyond. 

 

 

Bhavya Lal, the associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy at NASA, hopes India becomes the 26th country to sign the accords. Mike Gold, a former NASA official and Accords architect, emphasizes the importance of the US-India relationship in space exploration and encourages India to join the US lunar program. 

 

 

Gold also expresses hope for collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in missions such as Gaganyaan, India's human space flight program, and envisions Indian astronauts visiting the International Space Station.

 

 

The US initiated its Artemis program in November 2022 by launching the uncrewed Orion spacecraft as a precursor to future manned lunar missions.