Back to the Moon: the United States and Europe more partners than ever

A bit like a symbol: while the conflict in Ukraine is undoing international scientific agreements one by one, the United States, Europe, but also Canada and Japan, are advancing a little more towards solid collaboration to prepare for the return of the man on the moon. A first since the Apollo missions of the 1970s.

In quick succession, President Joe Biden tabled an official request to Congress earlier this week for the budget of the American space agency (Nasa) to reach nearly 26 billion dollars in 2023 – an increase of 2 billion compared to 2022. Then, welcoming this announcement – “this budget puts us on the right track”, Bob Cabana, the deputy administrator of NASA assured that this extension would be used to ensure the development of a second lander for a return of the man on the lunar star now scheduled for 2028. Finally, next weekend, between April 2 and 3, the giant rocket – 98 meters high capable of sending 27 tons of cargo to the moon and baptized “SLS” (for Space Launch system) – will undergo its first life-size tests since it was erected on the mythical launch pad 39B of Cape Canaveral (from where the Saturn V rockets took off).

On the program, no ignition of the engines but a repetition of the filling of the fuel tanks (with oxygen and liquid hydrogen) in order to ensure that the rocket behaves as expected once full. A crucial campaign before a real take-off now set for the end of May, but more likely in the first half of June as part of the Artemis-1 mission.

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Europe in the race

“This first launch will be done without an astronaut, but Europe is also looking forward to it since we are a partner of the Orion spacecraft which is in the fairing of the SLS”, explains Didier Schmitt, responsible for the coordination of exploration programs and the development of future programs at the European Space Agency (ESA). The latter finances and develops the European Service Module (ESM) attached to the habitable capsule and responsible for supplying Orion with air, water, electricity but also thermal regulation and part of the propulsion. “The ESM has its own solar panels and 33 motors, explains Philippe Deloo, in charge of this program within ESA.

It also has a water and air supply system capable of producing 3 liters (of water) and 1 kilo of air daily.” The main thruster was recovered from the space shuttle and has therefore been extensively tested. The Americans felt that it took too long to develop a brand new engine and qualify it for human spaceflight, which requires a high degree of safety.If all goes nominally next weekend, the launch of the first SLS will take place between June 6 and 16. After takeoff, the rocket will separate from its upper stage where the ESM and Orion are located, which will leave in the direction of the celestial body.

A first turn of the moon in 2024

To date, two options are on the table: the trip will last 28 or 42 days. “In the first, Orion would make a fraction of an orbit around the moon and in the second, it would make a full orbit and a fraction before heading back to Earth”, explains Philippe Deloo. Every second of this “empty” trip will be scrupulously monitored in the United States and Europe, particularly by the Airbus engineers who designed the ESM. On board Orion, mannequins covered with sensors will be installed in order to measure the solar radiation, the vibrations and the accelerations that the astronauts will have to undergo. And this “real” journey, ultimately comparable to the Apollo 8 mission (December 1969) should take place according to NASA’s new schedule in 2024. On board this Artemis-2 mission, an American-Canadian crew who should carry out the same loop around the moon and therefore, without landing there. On the European side, and according to the NASA / Esa agreements, it will be necessary to wait a little.

“Beyond the ESM, we will provide two other modules under this program for the Gateway station which will be in lunar orbit and will be used to prepare for a human landing: a housing module, the I-Hab, and a communication and refueling one, baptized “Esprit”. What we can say is that each time one of these modules is put into orbit, there will be a European astronaut on board Orion “, promises Didier Schmitt. One for the ESMs, and two for these last two modules, means that at least three Europeans will fly around the moon aboard the Gateway. And that probably before 2028.

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According to its updated plans, NASA hopes less and less to see a first crew of astronauts – with at least one woman and one person of color – treading the lunar soil in 2026. A shift could take place in 2028. And to see a European on the surface of the Moon, we will have to wait a little longer. “We continue to negotiate with a spirit of codependency, concludes Didier Schmitt. The Americans will not be able to go to the Moon without us and vice versa.”