27/10/2020 (Agence Europe) – The Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner, and Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator General, remotely signed a memorandum of understanding “to take Europe to the Moon”, the Agency announced in a statement Tuesday, 27 October. ESA member states will contribute to the provision of a number of essential elements of the Gateway, the lunar orbiting portal that will serve as a stepping stone to send manned missions to Mars. ESA will produce the main habitation module for astronauts on Gateway missions, the IHab, as well as a communications and refuelling module, called ESPRIT. The United States is preparing for ‘humanity’s return’ to the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis programme. (PH)