NASA Invites India to Join Base Development Mission on the Moon

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/NASA DOC

JAKARTA - The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) invited India to join an ambitious lunar base mission.

In a step to deepen the US-India space partnership, US Ambassador to New Delhi, Sergio Gor, said NASA has invited the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to "join their lunar base program."

The announcement was made during the ninth meeting of the India-US civil space working group held by India on August 5-6 at the headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organization in the southern city of Bengaluru.

"Both sides discussed expanding cooperation ... and pursuing future collaboration in manned space science and technology," the US Embassy in New Delhi said on Tuesday, August 11, as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu.

NASA describes the base on the Moon as "the first human outpost on the Moon, a place where astronauts will live, work, and explore near the Moon's South Pole."

"Through a series of crewed and uncrewed missions, NASA and its partners will build the infrastructure necessary to support a sustainable human presence on the Moon, unlock new scientific discoveries, and prepare for the deep space exploration that will come," NASA said.