But the second great space race isn’t expected to look much like the first from the 1960s. So to speak, it won’t be one or two superpowers battling it out for space superiority. But instead, groups of nations will pool their resources in large multinational collaborations that aim to be a more lasting inconvenience than what the Americans and Soviets achieved 50 to 60 years ago.
These are the Accords of Artemis, and they are there to ensure that a geopolitically divided Moon, as countless futurist philosophers feared, does not occur. Let’s take a look at the details. This new collective of nations was named in honor of upcoming NASA/ESA manned missions to the Moon and possibly Mars later.
The Artemis Accords aim to bridge cultural divides, cross continents, and eliminate forms of prejudice in the name of bringing in not just Americans but an eclectic group of people from all corners of the globe. If you could sum up the intentions of the Artemis Accords in one word, NASA would rather it be “Interoperability.”
Why is it? Well, we answer that with other questions. What good is a space program where an American-Canadian spacecraft cannot connect with an Anglo-French service module? What use is flight software developed in the Middle East if specialized manufacturers in East Asia or Eastern Europe cannot interpret any of it?
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The name of the game in this case allows a set of 21 nations to share a common language by which the entire Artemis program can be built. We’re seeing this philosophy applied in several innovative ways, and it’s not just limited to hardware compatibility. For one thing, identifying and recording all known man-made objects in lunar orbit or on its surface is a key part of the Artemis Accords and the five space missions planned under it.
Another tenant of the Artemis Accords is an emergency mutual aid pact intended to oblige all inhabited crew on other worlds to come to the aid of others in the event of an emergency. A good understanding of exactly what is on the surface of the Moon and who built it is the first step to avoiding unnecessary interference. Lunar surface data is undoubtedly important too.
Another key element of this historic gathering is a general agreement to disclose all empirical findings discovered during the Artemis missions with the scientific community back on Earth with 100% transparency. In truth, the Artemis Accords (check attached PDF) are, in effect, a modern rubber stamp on actions first taken during the days of Apollo in an accord called the Space Treaty outer space.
Under these guidelines, of which more than 100 nations and 23 signatories were present, established the basic ground rules for how international space agencies should operate in deep space. Most often, this conduct was related to operations on the Moon.
![Artemis Accords](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1666526012_855_Artemis-Accords-An-Alliance-to-Take-the-World-Not-Just.jpg)
Although the 1967 Outer Space Treaty was signed in anticipation of colonization efforts that never materialized, its framework serves as the cornerstone of modern and relevant space policy. From 2022, the space agencies of Australia, Great Britain, France, Korea, Japan, Brazil, Israel, Canada, Mexico, Romania, Ukraine and the United States , among others, represent a founding group who swear to explore the Moon and beyond in the name of peace and science.
As Russia and China prepare for their own manned moon missions, it’s a defiant display of unity between nations that at times historically have not cared for each other. But when the price is international boots on the surface of other celestial bodies, we find it easy enough to cast aside prejudice in awe of the deep leap the second space race may prove to be for the humanity.
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