The crew of Artemis II landing in the Pacific.
Keystone-SDA
Economics Minister Guy Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has congratulated the US space agency NASA and its partners on the successful “Artemis II” mission around the Moon. Shortly beforehand, the astronauts landed in the Pacific on schedule.
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Parmelin was proud of Switzerland’s contribution, he said, writing on X on Saturday night that the Swiss research and innovation sector had contributed to this important step on the return to the Moon with its expertise and cutting-edge technology via the European Space Agency (ESA).
NASA is not managing the “Artemis” programme alone. Many private space companies as well as the space programmes of Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and ESA are involved.
Swiss companies contributed components to ESA’s service module: the drive motors for aligning the solar panels and the secondary structure come from Beyond Gravity in Emmen, canton Lucerne. Apco Technologies in Aigle in canton Vaud also supplied mechanical ground equipment to support the service module during construction and transport, as well as the rotating platform for assembling the module.
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For retired Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier and astronaut trainee Marco Sieber, the Artemis II mission has highlighted the importance of international cooperation. “Space travel ultimately promotes cooperation,” Nicollier told CH Media.
Europe’s involvement in the Artemis programme is often underestimated, Nicollier said in an interview with Schweiz am Wochenende on Saturday. The service module of the Orion capsule comes from Europe. It provides propulsion, controls the capsule’s orientation and ensures life support, he said, adding: “That is no minor detail, but a central component of the mission.”
‘New era’
Sieber could one day find himself on his way to the Moon. In conversation with CH Media, he too emphasised international cooperation in space travel. He is currently experiencing this first-hand in Houston, Texas, for a two-month training course, as reported by Schweiz am Wochenende. Nicollier was also in Houston during the conversation. That is where NASA’s control centre is located.
Sieber represents a younger generation of astronauts who did not witness the Moon landing in 1969. “For us, this now feels like the beginning of a new era,” he said. That is why the Artemis mission is special. Canadian Jeremy Hansen and Americans Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman – the crew of Artemis II – were the first people to be near the Moon in more than 50 years.
The possibility of taking part in a lunar mission himself is not a priority for Sieber. “At the moment, we’re extremely focused on the International Space Station (ISS), where hopefully my first mission will be heading soon,” he said. But he already knows what he would take with him if he were ever to find himself in a rocket heading for the Moon: “A cheese fondue in space – that would be the one!”
Adapted from German by AI/ts
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