Washington hopes to expand the number of participants in the agreement on the norms of behavior in space and on the development of the Moon, said the head of NASA Bill Nelson
WASHINGTON, May 20. /TASS/. The United States authorities will continue to promote the agreements proposed by the previous administration on standards of conduct in space and on the exploration of the Moon, called the "Artemis Agreements", and hope to expand the number of their participants. This was stated on Wednesday at a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee of the US Congress, the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Bill Nelson.
In particular, he praised the work of his predecessor in the post, James Bridenstine, under which the agreements were developed. "Now we need to push these' Artemis Agreements 'further," he stressed.
"And I think there are other countries that are ready to sign some of these agreements. They set standards of conduct in space, and I hope that other countries will join us and comply with these standards, " Nelson added.
On May 15, 2020, the US Space Agency presented the basic principles on which the proposed international agreements will be based. The Artemis Agreements, named after the American lunar program, are a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and partner countries. The principles of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty are largely taken as a basis. Among the listed principles, NASA named, in particular, the provisions on the extraction of resources on the Moon and the idea of creating so-called security zones that should prevent "malicious interference". Michael Gold, who was until recently acting Deputy director of NASA for international Relations, stressed in May last year, answering questions from TASS, that the United States considers Russia as a partner in the exploration of the Moon.
