Washington:
A lucky Japanese astronaut will become the first non-American to set foot on the moon during NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday.
The offer to Japan, an opportunity long coveted by many countries, comes as part of a state visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and comes as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with its key Asian ally.
“Two Japanese astronauts will participate in future U.S. missions, and one of them will become the first non-American to land on the moon,” Biden said at a news conference with Kishida.
Kishida hailed the announcement as a “huge achievement” and announced that Japan would provide a rover to the program in return.
NASA’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years and establish a sustained lunar presence ahead of a potential mission to Mars.
Between 1969 and 1972, the U.S. Apollo program saw 12 Americans, all white, land on the moon.
NASA previously announced that the Artemis program would see the first woman and first person of color land on the moon.
“America will no longer walk on the moon alone,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a video posted on social media.
“Diplomacy is good for discovery. Discovery is good for diplomacy,” he added.
Artemis 3, the first mission to send astronauts to the lunar surface, is planned for 2026. Meanwhile, China says it plans to put humans on the moon by 2030.
A spokesman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told AFP it was “very pleased” with the news.
“We will do our best to implement the agreement,” including developing rovers for the program, he said.
– Japan-US cooperation –
Tokyo and Washington have cooperated for many years in the space sector, particularly in the operation of the International Space Station (ISS).
This year, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon, with its SLIM spacecraft landing in January.
The United States and Japan clarified in a joint media release that a Japanese national would land on the moon “assuming important benchmarks are met,” but gave no further clarification.
In return, the lunar rover provided by Japan will be pressurized, meaning astronauts can go further and work on the lunar surface for longer, the statement said.
It added that the pressurized rover will host two astronauts in a “mobile habitat and laboratory” for up to 30 days, exploring the area near the moon’s south pole.
NASA currently plans to use the rover on future Artemis 7 missions and on subsequent missions over its 10-year lifespan.
– Europe’s contribution –
The European Space Agency (ESA) has reserved three seats for future Artemis missions in exchange for technical contributions to the program.
However, it is unclear whether European astronauts will have the opportunity to set foot on or orbit the moon.
Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s director of human and robotic exploration, said those details of the agreement with NASA still “are subject to further discussion.”
Neuenschwander added in a telephone interview with AFP on Wednesday that he could “completely understand” cooperation between the United States and Japan and acknowledged the “geostrategic” motivations for the deal.
The Artemis space program was launched in 2022, with Artemis 1 successfully flying an unmanned spacecraft around the moon.
Artemis 2 is scheduled to launch in 2025 and will send four astronauts around the moon without landing. The crew, which will consist of three Americans and one Canadian, is currently undergoing training.
The first manned lunar landing will be Artemis 3, currently planned for 2026. NASA has not yet announced who will participate in the mission.
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