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| Image Source: Japan Times |
Summary:
• Main story: Japan is finalizing
plans to send its first astronaut to the moon under the US-led Artemis program.
• Timeline: Aiming for late 2025,
with discussions for a second astronaut ongoing.
• International collaboration: US
intends to include an international astronaut on a lunar mission by 2029,
potentially a Japanese astronaut.
• Japan's contribution:
Construction of lunar outpost, material transport, and developing a
spacesuit-free lunar rover.
• Artemis program goals:
Re-establishing human lunar presence, advancing lunar exploration, and paving
the way for Mars missions.
• Next steps for Artemis: Uncrewed
lunar flyby in 2024, crewed lunar flyby in 2025, week-long lunar stay in 2025,
and regular lunar missions from 2028.
Additional
points of interest:
• This highlights the growing
international cooperation in space exploration.
• Japan's involvement reflects its
long-term space ambitions and expertise in robotics and technology.
• The development of a spacesuit-free
lunar rover is a significant technological advancement.
• Artemis marks a renewed focus on lunar
exploration with goals beyond simply planting a flag.
Details:
Japan Times
reported that the United States and Japan are making final arrangements to land
a Japanese astronaut on the surface of the moon for the first time, under a
U.S.-led lunar exploration program.
The Artemis
program aims to achieve a historic milestone by sending U.S. astronauts to the
lunar surface for the first time in over half a century by 2025 at the
earliest, and a Japanese astronaut may be among the next to land on the Earth's
satellite, according to the sources.
The two countries
are also discussing putting a second Japanese astronaut on the moon and
expected to finalize a plan as soon as next month, the sources said.
Vice
President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that the United States intended to
have an international astronaut accompany U.S. astronauts to the surface of the
moon by 2029, although she did not say from which country the envisaged
individual might be selected.
Meanwhile,
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday confirmed at a meeting of the Strategic
Headquarters for Space Development that two countries were speeding up
discussions.
Japan will
not only participate in the construction of Gateway, a lunar-orbiting outpost
planned under the Artemis program, but will also be responsible for
transporting materials, as well as developing a lunar rover that can be driven
without a spacesuit.
Besides
returning humans to the moon and advancing lunar exploration, the ultimate goal
of the Artemis program is explore Mars.
Last year,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA successfully put the
uncrewed Orion spacecraft on course to fly around the moon and return to Earth.
It is
planning to send four astronauts from the United States and Canada on a lunar
flyby in November 2024 for its next step in lunar exploration, followed by a
roughly weeklong stay on its surface aboard a SpaceX craft at the end of 2025
and a nearly annual trip to the moon from 2028.
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