The European Space Agency will contribute key components for a NASA mission to take humans around the moon within the next few years.
Astronauts haven’t gone beyond a low orbit around Earth since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
The European Space Agency and aerospace company Airbus have already delivered a propulsion and supply module for an unmanned flight of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft next year.
To the Moon, Mars and Beyond! @NASA_Orion is ready for the next giant leap. #FutureFlight https://t.co/GL3Bsiu705 pic.twitter.com/tzd2QuAuZu
— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) February 2, 2017
The agency said February 8 that it and Airbus have now agreed with NASA to build a module for a second, manned mission that will fly around the moon as early as 2021.
Orion is intended to expand human exploration to deep-space destinations such as Mars and asteroids.
