NASA, European Counterpart to Cooperate on Manned Mission to Moon

Would be first trip outside near Earth orbit in more than 40 years

The European Space Agency is teaming up with NASA for a mission that will take human beings beyond Earth orbit for the first time in 40 years—and eventually, it says, further than ever before.

It's agreed to adapt its unmanned cargo vessel, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), to hold a NASA-built crew compartment for the Orion spacecraft, with launch set for 2017.