NASA Administrator Bill Nelson revealed on Thursday, during his visit to Argentina, that the US space agency is planning a mission to send humans to the dark side of the Moon.
This mission aims to test new technologies, which could be instrumental in preparing for a future journey to Mars.
“We are planning to visit a different area of the Moon, its south pole, which is riddled with craters and in constant darkness,” said Nelson during a lecture at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
The mission will involve two parts: the first will send four astronauts to orbit the Moon, and the second will have them walk on the lunar surface.
Precision will be paramount during landing due to the challenging environment.
The purpose of Nelson’s Argentina visit was to deepen aerospace cooperation ties that began with the establishment of Argentina’s National Space Activities Commission (CONAE) in 1991.
“We launched a test expedition to the Moon between November and December, before sending humans in a spacecraft.
This time, our mission differs from that half a century ago, as we are focusing on creating and improving technologies to reach Mars,” he added.
As a gift to UBA’s School of Engineering, Nelson presented a framed photo of the far side of the Moon taken by one of NASA’s unmanned spacecraft, a distance of around 70,000 miles from the lunar satellite, marking the farthest any craft has reached.
Despite discoveries of an “extraordinary cosmos” and the deployment of a telescope over a million miles from Earth, Nelson affirmed that no extraterrestrial life has been found.
“One of NASA’s missions is to seek life, but we have yet to find any extraterrestrial colonies outside Earth,” said Nelson.
During the visit, Nelson humorously suggested the idea of sending Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi to space, reaffirming NASA’s capabilities to train and send an Argentine astronaut into space.
The collaboration between NASA and CONAE has enabled Argentina to develop scientific application satellites (SAC), with NASA providing instruments and launch services, and CONAE supporting US research campaigns.
A notable project is the operationalization of SAC-D, an Argentine satellite carrying ‘Aquarius’, an instrument used for studying ocean salinity and maritime currents, thereby enhancing tools for climate change studies.
With information from EFE