On Wednesday (21st) in Paris, the European Space Agency (ESA) presented a team of seven astronauts ready to explore the moon as part of the American program Artemis. However, only one person will be able to set foot on the moon if the mission is successful.

Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, Germans Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer, Italians Luca Parmitano and Samantha Cristoforetti, Dane Andreas Mogensen and Britain’s Tim Peake have completed at least one mission in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS, in English) 400 km from Earth.

It represents “the equivalent of 4.5 years in orbit and 98 hours of space travel,” Philip Willikens, president of the European Space Agency, explained at a press conference at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Paris.

Among them, only three will be selected for Lunar Getaway, the future lunar orbital station, and only one will set foot on the lunar surface at the end of the decade. However, the European Space Agency has not yet made a decision.

Thomas Pesquet, who along with his teammates Alexander Gerst, Matthias Maurer and Luca Parmitano wore a dark blue polo shirt with the ESA and Artemis logos.

Samantha Cristoforetti, on a mission to the International Space Station, and Andreas Mogensen, ready for launch at the station, spoke from a distance.

The European Space Agency, which has 22 member states, participates in Artemis, a NASA program that plans to return to the Moon after more than five decades. In particular, the European Agency is working with its ESM Service Module, which will be located under the Orion capsule.