Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, right, shakes hands with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, after signing the Artemis Accords on Monday at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, D.C. Switzerland is the 37th country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish a set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis program. Photo courtesy of NASA/Keegan Bar
upi
April 18 (UPI) — The United States welcomed Switzerland and Sweden as the latest countries to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords, also known as the Outer Space Treaty, to strengthen international collaboration in space and on the moon.
Switzerland became the 37th country to sign the Artemis Accords on Monday, with Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister for Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, D.C.
“Switzerland has a long-standing partnership with NASA on human space exploration as well as space and Earth sciences,” said Parmelin. “With the signature of the Artemis Accords we renew our commitment to jointly explore the heavens above us.”
“Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United States and Switzerland,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced after the signing.
On Tuesday, Sweden became the 38th country to sign the Artemis Accords, as the country’s Minister for Education Mats Persson attended a signing ceremony in Stockholm.
“Welcome to the Artemis Accords, Sweden,” NASA wrote in a post on X. “Sweden became the 38th country to commit to peaceful exploration of deep space, the moon and beyond. Välkommen!”
Currently, 38 nations make up the Artemis Accords, and include Angola, Bahrain, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uruguay, among dozens of others.
According to NASA, “many more countries are anticipated to join the Artemis Accords in the months and years to come.”
The Artemis Accords were established by NASA and the U.S. State Department in 2020 to expand on the 1968 Treaty of Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space. The treaty spells out NASA standards and includes an agreement on the rescue of astronauts.
NASA’s Artemis missions will land the first woman, first person of color and the first international partner astronaut on the moon, where the space agency will then prepare for the first human mission to Mars.
“As we welcome you into the Artemis Accords family, we expand our commitment to explore the unknown openly and peacefully,” Nelson said. “Discovery strengthens goodwill on Earth, and we are excited to expand our countries’ shared values and principles to the cosmos.”
Copyright 2024 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published April 18, 2024, 12:50 AM.