Why France signing NASA’s lunar exploration pact is the most important signature yet
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (far right) and Philippe Baptiste, president of CNES, signing the Artemis Accords at the French Ambassador's Residence in Washington. | Image: NASA/Keegan Barber On Tuesday evening, France officially signed onto NASA's Artemis Accords - the space agency's set of guidelines and principles for how the US and other countries should explore the Moon in the future. France's addition, long considered a big get for the Artemis Accords, brings the total number of signatory countries to 20, strengthening the international agreement ahead of NASA's planned return to the lunar surface this decade.
When the finalized Artemis Accords were presented during the Trump administration in October 2020, NASA announced that eight countries had signed onto the document - including the United States. But there were some notable absences from that list. Two of the world's largest space superpowers - China and Russia -...