Thomas Pesquet returns to Earth, he could return to space but not to the International Space Station

Space — Thomas Bisquet and the astronauts on SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission are scheduled to return to Earth on the night of November 8-9, at 4:33 a.m., according to the latest information from NASA.

But that doesn’t mean he ended his career in orbit. The French astronaut could return to space for the third time in 2024 on a mission in orbit around the moon, As you can see in the video above.

He also hinted at it himself before leaving space on Monday.

Proud to represent France again in space! Next time, the moon? Finally, we have a down to earth guarantee first, then…a little rest.#MissionAlphapic.twitter.com/YYjnY5FxLv

– Thomas Bisquet (@Thom_astro) November 8, 2021

Moon Gate is a project for an orbiting station for the Moon. Located at the center of NASA’s Artemis program, this portal will serve as a forward base for various missions. Among them, returning humans to the Moon after nearly 50 years of absence, or sending the first astronauts to Mars.

So the lunar station will be the cornerstone of deep space exploration. The first modules of the Moon Gate should be sent into orbit by December 2024. As usual, NASA will subcontract the construction of the various parts of this station.

The Housing and Logistics (HALO) location, for example, would be the US aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Grumman. The unit will be the first crew cabin for astronauts to visit the bridge. Elon Musk’s SpaceX will provide HALO launch services in 2024.

NASA has released new illustrations for SpaceX’s Dragon XL spacecraft, which the agency awarded last year a contract to deliver cargo to the Lunar Gateway in lunar orbit: pic.twitter.com/7nfr8Qvhw6

– Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 17, 2021

Pesquet seat on the gate

The European Space Agency (ESA) is also part of the station construction project. In November 2019, the space agency received permission and funding to support its contributions to Gateway. The following year, the European Space Agency signed an agreement with NASA to provide accommodation and refueling units and improve lunar communications to the bridge.

If the European Space Agency (ESA) provides two flights for each of its astronauts to the International Space Station, and Thomas Pesquet makes them all, this time the astronaut can be sent to the new lunar space station. In fact, three flights of astronauts aboard the Gateway have been commissioned to the European Space Agency.

So the most experienced astronauts from the European Agency should be sent there. Frenchman Thomas Pesquet and German Alexander Gerst have a good chance to join the Future Station. The last place could go to Luca Parmitano or Samantha Cristoforetti. However, no landing on the moon was planned for European astronauts.

See also on The HuffPost: Thomas Peskett, Commander of the International Space Station: The new powers of the station chief