PARIS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Man will go back to the Moon by 2020or 2025, Director-general of the European Space Agency (ESA) Jean-Jacques Dordain said on Monday, adding that Europe will play a role in the international mission.
In his statement published on the website of the ESA, Dordain talked about the significance of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the Moon and of the continuing lunar exploration.
Dordain said the Moon could be seen as a part of the human environment, which would be used "to make scientific progress, to establish a warning system against asteroids or anything else threatening Earth, or to be a source of resources to take back to Earth."
"I am sure humans will return to the Moon, but they will go to the Moon together and not in the context of two competing countries," he reiterated.
"I think Europe will play a part in the international exploration of the Moon," Dordain said.
Dordain believed that the lunar exploration mainly depends on the current U.S. plan, which is expected to land a crew on the Moon by 2020.
"I am absolutely convinced that mankind will go back to the Moon in 10 years' time, or maybe 20 years, but that is not the most important point. We're not talking about a race. If it's not in 2020, it will be in 2025 -- it doesn't really matter," Dordain said.
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