Canadian Space Agency officials are hoping a Canadian will be part of an international team that could be living on the moon within 20 years.

NASA intends to send a four-astronaut crew to the moon in 2020 to start setting up a base camp on one of the lunar poles.

The plan is to have the outpost permanently staffed by 2024.

The project involves drilling holes on the moon, because its soil is believed to have potential as a source of oxygen or as a propellant to get astronauts back home.

"Why not!" exclaims Alain Berinstain, the Canadian Space Agency's director of planetary exploration and space astronomy, when asked whether a Canadian could be on the mission.

"In Canada, we're good at making holes in the ground and bringing stuff up … we do that already every day and we do it well," he said in a recent interview.

"That is a wish that is possible. We could make that happen if we make the right decisions.

"The opportunity is there for us to grab. The question we have to ask ourselves now is: `The rest of the world is going to the moon and Mars, does Canada want to participate?' "

Chief astronaut Julie Payette says it's "certainly a possibility" that a Canadian could go to the moon.

But she adds it's up to the federal government and the public to decide if Canada should co-operate with its space partners on a lunar mission.

"If [we] feel this is something that we should take part in, then it's absolutely feasible," Payette said.

But the first Canadian to board the International Space Station said she doesn't know if she'll put her footprints on the moon.

"Certainly that would be an absolute thrill," Payette said.

"It's a great idea … if there's an opportunity, if I'm the right person, absolutely!"
 
At 43, she is the youngest of the current crop of six Canadian astronauts. Payette will be 61 in 2024.

John Glenn, who in 1962 became the first American to orbit the Earth, made a return voyage aboard a space shuttle 36 years later at the age of 77.

For now, Payette's focus is on completion of the space station.

"We're definitely gonna learn a lot from operating and utilizing the International Space Station," she said.

"Hopefully, then we'll be in better shape to attempt this first for human beings — to go and settle somewhere else besides Earth."

International co-operation essential

NASA held a series of international meetings during the past year, which brought together space agencies, business executives, scientists and other experts.

That led to a strategy for exploration of the moon.

"NASA would be the first to tell you that there is no single space agency that can pull this off on their own," Berinstain said.

Britain has been approached by the Americans to become a partner and Russia also wants in.

Berinstain said NASA's plan "fits really nicely" into the Canadian government's strategy for space science and exploration.

The Canadian Space Agency has already set up internal working groups to determine what kinds of lunar contributions the country can make.

Berinstain pointed out that, because of its geography, Canada has a "very rich" history of expertise in geology and mining.

"We have world-renowned geologists in Canada due to our resources and our land," Berinstain said.

"These are people who do good geology on Earth and could do good geology on the moon and Mars."