Before Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US, a NASA official appeals to India to join the Artemis Accords, which is headed by the US
The Artemis team, which brings together countries with similar aspirations for civil space exploration, must include India, a global power and one of the few nations with autonomous space access, according to a high-ranking NASA official.
A set of guiding principles known as the Artemis Accords was created to direct civil space exploration and utilisation in the twenty-first century. They are predicated on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST).
The United States will be in charge of a mission to extend space exploration to Mars and beyond by 2025.
India intends to sign the Artemis Accords by May 2023, according to Bhavya Lal, the assistant administrator for technology, policy, and strategy in the office of the NASA Administrator, who talked with PTI on Friday.
“I believe that India should make signing the Artemis Accords a top priority. NASA believes that India is a major global force, after all. It should be a member of the Artemis team since it is one of the few nations with autonomous access to space, has a booming rocket industry, has visited the moon and Mars, and has travelled to both.
“How can we ensure that space is sustainably used for future generations? Therefore, I believe the advantage is that like-minded nations with comparable ideals have the opportunity to explore together, added Lal.
The benefit, according to her, is that India considers itself a global space power and puts a high priority on responsible space usage, collaboration, and sustainable exploration.
Lal, who was born in Mathura but spent her early years in New Delhi, was the agency’s first female acting chief technologist in more than 60 years.
Prior to holding her present post, Lal served as NASA’s interim chief of staff, where she supervised the agency’s transition during the first 100 days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Lal claims that collaboration between India and the United States is necessary for the Artemis programme and the moon.
“We have only recently formed a working committee for human space travel. That group’s objective is to create plans for what we ought to be doing and how. I hope the team finds many of real possibilities to work together,” she remarked.
The NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2019. Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US the next week, the most notable Indian American in NASA remarked, “I hope it’s on track.
As President Biden welcomes PM Modi to the country next week on an official state visit, one of the main topics of discussion is expected to be the coordinated space endeavour and associated challenges.
