Money talks on moon trip

FLORIDA (AFP) — Several countries want their astronauts to hitch a ride with the United States on its next set of lunar missions, but the second nation to have Moon boots on the ground will depend on how much they contribute, NASA’s chief said Thursday.

The United States plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program in order to set up a long-term colony and test technologies for a crewed mission to Mars; it is inviting international partners to take part.

“You can imagine there are going to be a lot of countries to step up to the plate at a level that would say, ‘OK, that warrants having an astronaut on the surface of the Moon,” Jim Bridenstine said, speaking at the 70th International Astronautical Congress in Washington.

The European Space Agency and Japan’s space agency have publicly announced they’d like their astronauts to participate in Artemis.