As NASA unveils its controversial all–male Artemis III crew, the big question remains: who will be next to step foot on the moon?
Although the Artemis IV landing in 2029 will likely be all–American, Brits could be close behind.
Now, veteran British astronaut Tim Peake has revealed who he thinks could be the first Brit to step foot on the moon.
And he says that Northern Irish astronaut Dr Rosemary Coogan is Britain’s best bet.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Major Peake said: ‘I think we’d be lucky to have the first European on the moon by 2030 and, if I was betting, I’d say that would probably be Germany, France.
‘But I’d like to think that we’ve got a really good chance of seeing a Brit on the moon by the mid–2030s.
‘It might be new, or it might be somebody like Rose [Rosemary Coogan] who has maybe done a six–month stint on the International Space Station.
‘If she gets that mission in about 2030, then she will be ready for a 2035 lunar mission.’
British astronaut Tim Peake (pictured) has revealed who he thinks will be the first Brit to walk on the moon, and says they could do it by 2035
Dr Coogan graduated from the University of Sussex in 2019 with a doctorate in astronomy before joining the French space agency CNES.
In 2022, Dr Coogan was selected as an astronaut candidate by the European Space Agency and became certified in 2024.
That makes her part of ESA’s qualified astronaut pool, which can be drawn on for spaceflight missions to the ISS.
While Dr Coogan is yet to gain any spaceflight experience, by the time the UK has a chance at taking part in a moon mission, she may be better prepared.
Major Peake said: ‘Rosemary Coogan, our career astronaut with ESA, is due for her slot as a long–duration station crew member.
‘I’m confident she’ll get her long–duration mission before the ISS is retired.
‘Besides those kinds of missions, I think the landscape at the moment offers plenty of opportunity for people to fly to space on private astronaut missions.’
If Dr Coogan can get some spaceflight under her belt by the time NASA is looking for a UK partner, she may be the only experienced British astronaut eligible to fly.
Tim Peake is backing Dr Rosemary Coogan (pictured) to be Britain’s first moonwalker. Dr Coogan is currently a career astronaut with the European Space Agency
Major Peake also singled out John McFall, the world’s first para–astronaut, who could visit space in early 2027.
McFall is an NHS surgeon and Paralympian who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident at the age of 19.
Recently, the UK Space Agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the private space firm Axiom Space, which aims to develop the first commercial space station.
This agreement enables Axiom Space to start planning a mission to send McFall to the Haven–1 space station once it starts operations in 2027.
It’s unclear whether NASA would consider a para–astronaut for their future moon landings, but that experience could also place McFall as a strong potential candidate.
While Peake predicts that a British astronaut will be sent to the moon by the mid–2030s, NASA has been more tight–lipped about potential partnerships.
In 2022, then deputy NASA administrator Pamela Melroy said she felt ‘very confident we’ll have an international partner’ and singled out the UK for its role in helping to develop the Lunar Gateway project.
The following year, the former science secretary Michelle Donelan claimed NASA had ‘said it was incredibly possible’ that a Brit would be part of Artemis III.’
Peake also suggests that the world’s first para–astronaut, John McFall (pictured), could play a bigger role in upcoming space missions. However, it isn’t clear whether NASA would consider him for a moon landing
Ms Donelan added that it was ‘only a matter of time until we get a British person on the Moon’.
As NASA unveiled its all–American Artemis III crew this week, that promise has evidently come to nothing.
However, Major Peake told the Daily Mail that opportunities to fly to the moon are likely to become far more common in the future.
‘Artemis is all about sustainability. Nobody can afford to do it as it was done back in Apollo,’ he said.
‘That was utterly amazing, but it was eating up five per cent of US GDP. Today’s NASA budget is 0.5 per cent of its GDP, and NASA is by far the best–funded space agency in the world.
‘What we saw with Artemis II is the beginning of this next phase, which is really exciting, but Artemis II is still old technology.
‘We’re still not seeing what’s just around the corner, which is the reusability element.’
Thanks to reusable rocket boosters like the SpaceX Falcon–9 and Falcon Heavy, the price of putting materials into space has plummeted.
A British astronaut should be able to go to the moon in the mid–2030s as NASA establishes its permanent moon base and begins regular crew rotations. Pictured: A NASA render of its planned moon infrastructure
‘There’s only so much you can do in space when it costs $57,000 a kilogram to go to space,’ Major Peake adds.
‘But now it’s $1,500 a kilogram on a Falcon 9, and Starship’s going to make that about $200 a kilogram. There’s a lot more you can do at $200 a kilogram.’
This is a trend that NASA plans to make full use of as it builds its first moon base to establish a permanent toe–hold on our lunar satellite.
The space agency plans to spend $20 billion on a moon base by 2032, which will be able to house a rotating crew of astronauts like the ISS does today.
Between 2029 and 2032, NASA will need to transport around 60 tonnes of cargo through as many as 24 landings, expanding to around 38 tons of cargo annually after 2032.
This rapidly accelerating launch cadence should make trips to the moon somewhat routine by the time British astronauts are ready to get involved.
Major Peake says: ‘We’re going to have astronauts going to spend four months, five months on a moon base as we do on the International Space Station.
‘And I think we’re going to see that with the next 10 years.’
While the veteran astronaut says that he would sign up for one of these missions ‘in a heartbeat’, he also points out that the psychological strain will be quite different to his time on the ISS.
He says: ‘I think it will help that the Earth is still large outside the habitat window, but there will definitely be that extra feeling of remoteness, that extra feeling of isolation – that’s why the Moon is a good stepping stone to Mars.
‘Mars is going to be truly unique in terms of that feeling, that psychological sense of isolation where you’ll look into the sky and have to work out which of those bright dots is actually Earth.
‘That’s going to require a whole other level of psychological resilience to be able to do that mission.’
Tim Peake will be appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where his an ambassador for the Future Lab.
The FOS Future Lab exhibition will be open from Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12.
WHO HAS BEEN TO THE MOON?
In total 12 people have walked on the moon.
1 + 2. Apollo 11 – July 21, 1969
Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first person to set foot on the lunar surface, before he he was followed by crewmate Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin.
3 + 4. Apollo 12 – November 19 and 20, 1969
Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were the moon walkers on the Apollo 12 mission.
The Apollo 12 crew experienced two lightning strikes just after their Saturn V rocket launched.
5 + 6. Apollo 14 – February 5, 1971
Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were part of the Apollo 14 mission. They launched on January 31, 1971, and landed in the Fra Mauro region of the moon, the original destination for Apollo 13.
7 + 8. Apollo 15 – July 31, 1971
Dave Scott and James Irwin landed on the moon and stayed for three days, until August 2.
9 + 10. Apollo 16 – April 21, 1972
John Young and Charlie Duke were the next men to walk on the moon. When the crew reached lunar orbit, the mission almost had to be aborted because of a problem with the command and service module’s main engine.
11 + 12. Apollo 17 – December 11, 1972
The final people to walk on the moon were Eugene (Gene) Cernan and Harrison (Jack) Schmitt.
Before he left the moon, Cernan scratched the initials of his daughter Tracy into the lunar regolith. Since the moon does not experience weather conditions like wind or rain to erode anything away, her initials should stay there for a very long time.
All the men who have been to the moon
