Despite previous issues that surrounded NASA’s plan for a new Moon mission in 2024, the space agency recently confirmed that it will push through with the project. In a new video, NASA explained how it intends to carry on with the Artemis mission through the development of its Gateway spacecraft.

Factors such as the lack of funding as well as the SpaceX Dragon Crew mishap seem to have hindered NASA’s plan to return to the Moon. However, in a video posted on YouTube titled “We Go Together,” NASA confirmed that the Artemis program for lunar exploration will still happen through the help of its international partners.

According to the space agency, the upcoming mission will be a joint effort between various countries including the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the European Space Agency. Together, these various partners will combine their resources to develop the various components of the Gateway spacecraft.

NASA indicated in its Moon to Mars page that Gateway will be launched 250,000 miles from Earth and will serve as a jumping point for astronauts to carry out mission expeditions on the Moon through the Artemis project. Aside from lunar expeditions, Gateway will also be used for deep space exploration.

“With America’s new directive to put humans on the Moon in 2024, NASA is leading the development of exploration capabilities,” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said in the video. “We are building a coalition of nations that can help us get to the Moon quickly and sustainably together.”

NASA will first develop and launch Gateway’s power-propulsion element, an outpost with modular features to allow accessibility for other components that will be built by the partner agencies. The next step will be headed by Canada through the construction of advanced robotics that will be used by the astronauts through Gateway.

Over the next couple of year, the various agencies will work together in developing other components of the Gateway until it is completed.

According to NASA, Gateway is not the goal of the program. Instead, it will serve as the first step in a new age of space exploration. Through the spacecraft, NASA and the other agencies will be able to carry out missions to Mars, the solar system and even the entire universe.

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