they had their fair share of criticism<\/a>. One major critique revolved around the use of lunar resources, with some arguing the Accords were an American land grab in space. The concept of utilizing space resources is seen by some as conflicting with the Outer Space Treaty\u2019s instruction not to claim sovereignty of a celestial object. In fact, this was partly one of France\u2019s concerns at first, according to Swiney.<\/p>\n\u201cFrance has been one of the countries making clear that they think that space resources is something that the international community needs to really spend some time and think about,\u201d he says. \u201cSo that it doesn\u2019t become either a Wild West gold rush situation, or that it doesn\u2019t just replicate some of the same inequalities that we see on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA and government officials worked with the French space agency, attempting to combat what they considered to be a misperception that space resources were prohibited by the Outer Space Treaty. Ultimately, France came around, with NASA presenting the Artemis Accords as simply a starting point \u2014 not an end to the space resources discussion. Under the Accords, nations can extract resources, but <\/strong>\u201cyou have to do it lawfully and you need to keep talking about it and resolve some of these bigger questions.\u201d Swiney says. \u201cSo I think they realized that that was a good starting point, to then address the issues that they continue to feel very strongly about.\u201d<\/p>\nThe next big European get would be Germany, the second-largest contributor to ESA, and Swiney is optimistic about the prospect. \u201cI think it\u2019s just taking time for countries to gain familiarity with the Accords,\u201d he says. \u201cThey hear not just one US administration, but two US administrations talk about them… And as we move forward with [Artemis] missions, which are really centered around science and exploration, I think people realize the Artemis Accords really are exactly what they claim to be, which is about trying to create rules for exploration and science.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another standing <\/strong>criticism of the Accords revolved around the fact that NASA didn\u2019t go through the traditional treaty-making process through the United Nations. \u201cI think that concern has really been laid to rest just by the signatories we\u2019ve gotten,\u201d says Swiney. The Artemis Accords include a diverse group of some nontraditional spacefaring nations, like Columbia and Bahrain. As more countries sign on, it\u2019s possible that the Artemis Accords may serve as a new framework for international space agreements in the future \u2014 one that might be slightly faster and more nimble than the often slow treaty route.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to sit and wait for the entire international community to provide guidance when we\u2019re about to go back to the Moon\u201d<\/q><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\u201cIt\u2019s the idea that all these things are complementary, and that the Accords will then feed back into the United Nations\u2019 process,\u201d says Swiney. \u201cBut at the same time, we\u2019re not going to sit and wait for the entire international community to provide guidance when we\u2019re about to go back to the Moon and we need rules.<\/p>\n
Swiney says to be on the lookout for even more signatories in the months ahead. Apart from Germany, he notes that India would be a particularly welcome signatory given the country\u2019s robust space program. And soon, the Artemis Accords will transition from theoretical policy guidelines to implementation once flights to the Moon begin, which is ultimately going to be the more difficult part of the process. But the fact that the document has gained so many supporters so far has been a big win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that these were topics that needed to be addressed before we started showing up to the Moon and going beyond, particularly in a persistent way,\u201d Swiney says. \u201cBut we just weren\u2019t sure whether it was something we could pull off. And I think since 2020, that narrative has really changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/6\/10\/23159558\/nasa-artemis-accords-france-signing-moon-exploration-significance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: On Tuesday evening, France officially signed onto NASA\u2019s Artemis Accords \u2014 the space agency\u2019s set of guidelines and principles for how the US and other countries should explore the Moon in the future. France\u2019s addition, long considered a big get for the Artemis Accords, brings the total number of signatory countries to 20, strengthening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,33],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-7739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-space","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"\n
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