In News: China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Roscosmos, Russia’s federal space agency, signed a memorandum of understanding March 9, 2021 on the construction of a moon outpost called the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
About International lunar Research Station
- The ILRS is a comprehensive scientific experiment base with the capability of long-term autonomous operation.
- ILRS will Built on the lunar surface and/or [in] lunar orbit.
- ILRS will carry out multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities such as lunar exploration and utilization, lunar-based observation, basic scientific experiment and technical verification.
- Russia and China will adhere to the principle of co-consultation, joint construction, and shared benefits.
- Open to all interested countries and international partners, strengthen scientific research exchanges, and promote humanity’s exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
NASA’s Artemis Program
- The United States is working on its own ambitious moon push with NASA’s Artemis program.
- Plan, Artemis will send astronauts to the lunar surface in the mid-2020s
- Aim establishes a long-term, sustainable human presence on and around the moon by the end of the decade. NASA hopes that such work will help it get astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.
- NASA isn’t going it alone with Artemis.
- The agency has inked deals with numerous partners in the private sector, and eight other nations have signed the Artemis Accords, clearing the way for their participation in the program. (A ninth country, Brazil, has indicated that it intends to sign the Accords as well.)
- Russia and China are not among the signatories.
India’s Initiatives:
Chandrayaan-3
- India is working on Chandrayaan-3.
- Attempt another soft-landing on the lunar surface
Source: The Hindu and space.com
