The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Space Force on behalf of the Department of Defense have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve cooperation on lunar exploration and other programs, NASA said in a statement on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Space Force on behalf of the Department of Defense have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve cooperation on lunar exploration and other programs, NASA said in a statement on Tuesday.
"While advancing plans for unprecedented lunar exploration under the Artemis program, NASA also is building on a longstanding partnership with the Department of Defense with a new memorandum of understanding," the statement said.
The new MOU replaces the previous one between NASA and the US Air Force Space Command of 2006 and commits the two agencies to broad collaboration in the numerous areas including human spaceflight, space transportation, safe operations in space and planetary defense, the statement said.
"This agreement ... reaffirms and continues our rich legacy of collaboration with the Defense Department and provides a critical foundation to investigate areas of mutual interest for our distinct civil and defense roles in space," NASA Administrator James Bridenstine said in the statement.
Bridenstine noted that NASA plans to send a robotic mission to the Moon as early as 2021, subsequent missions in 2022 and 2023, and a human mission in 2024.
