The European Space Agency and Airbus have agreed with NASA to build a module.(Reuters Photo)
Berlin:
The European Space Agency says it will contribute key components for a future NASA mission to take humans around the moon within the next few years.
Astronauts haven't gone beyond a low orbit around Earth since 1972, when NASA ended its Apollo program.
The European Space Agency and aerospace company Airbus have already delivered a propulsion and supply module for an unmanned flight of NASA's new Orion spacecraft next year.
The agency said Wednesday that it and Airbus have now agreed with NASA to build a module for a second, manned mission that will fly around the moon as early as 2021.
Orion is eventually intended to expand human exploration to deep-space destinations such as Mars or asteroids.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Astronauts haven't gone beyond a low orbit around Earth since 1972, when NASA ended its Apollo program.
The European Space Agency and aerospace company Airbus have already delivered a propulsion and supply module for an unmanned flight of NASA's new Orion spacecraft next year.
The agency said Wednesday that it and Airbus have now agreed with NASA to build a module for a second, manned mission that will fly around the moon as early as 2021.
Orion is eventually intended to expand human exploration to deep-space destinations such as Mars or asteroids.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
