ST. PETERSBURG, April 10. /TASS/. The current manned lunar flyby of the Orion spacecraft as part of NASA’s Artemis II mission is not so much a technical necessity as a symbolic demonstration of the United States’ intention to be the first to return to the Moon in the 21st century, Alexander Khokhlov, head of the small spacecraft projects department at the Geoscan Group, a member of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation, and a promoter of space exploration, told TASS in an interview.

"Symbolically, it was important to fly to the Moon. Of course, it would have been possible to test the life support systems in a real low-Earth orbit flight, but the Americans are greatly spurred on by the lunar race with China. Initially, it was hypothetical, but now it has become completely real, because the Chinese could overtake the Americans if they don’t have time to build a lunar lander. The US has a super-heavy rocket and a command module for the crew, but no landing module. And this Artemis II flight is a signal that the Americans want to be the first to land on the Moon in the 21st century and not cede the palm to China," Khokhlov noted.

He noted that the Artemis program is already the third US attempt to return to Earth’s natural satellite after two cancelled projects. Two landing modules from SpaceX and Blue Origin are currently in production. The Artemis IV mission, scheduled for 2028, is expected to land astronauts on the lunar surface.