Gateway Space Station Artist’s impression of orbiting the moon.
Photo: NASA
US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo on Monday, May 23, 2022, announcing the progress of cooperation in future manned and unmanned missions to the moon. The two heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to take the Japanese astronaut to the future Gateway space station to orbit the moon, and reaffirmed their shared ambition to see the future Japanese astronaut land on the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
“In recent years, the alliance between Japan and the United States has grown stronger, deeper and more efficiently as we work together to meet important new challenges such as the opportunities of a rapidly changing world,” President Biden said. “A great example of this: we’re seen Japan’s Lunar Rover … a symbol of how our space partnership goes to the moon and Mars. And I’m excited about the work we do. Together.” At the Gateway Station around the Moon, we look forward to the first Japanese astronaut to join us on a voyage to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis project. “
“Our shared ambition to see Japanese and American astronauts walk together on the moon reflects the shared values of our nations in exploring space responsibly and transparently for the benefit of humanity on Earth,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “With this landmark announcement, President Biden will no longer travel alone to countries around the world, but with like – minded partners. Through the Artemis program, our goal is to invest in and explore the universe with science-embracing nations, a common set of economic growth opportunities and shared values.” President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida reaffirmed that the United States and Japan will continue to work together on the sharing of geosynthetic data to improve the Earth’s changing climate as part of ongoing cooperation in space and geoscience.
In addition, the US President confirmed the US intention to deliver to Japan by 2023 the asteroid model Pennu, which was collected during NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. Japan has released to the United States a satellite model collected in 2021 by the Hayabusa2 mission of the Japan Space Agency (JAXA), which will return samples of the asteroids. JAXA is a key partner with NASA in helping the agency achieve its goals in science and human research through the International Space Station and Artemis. In 2020, Japan became one of the original signatories to the Artemis agreement and entered into an agreement with NASA to provide various capabilities to Gateway’s I-HAB, which will be at the heart of Gateway’s life support capabilities and provide additional space for staff. Work and research during Artemis missions. JAXA’s planned contributions include the I – HAB environmental control and life support system, batteries, thermal control and imaging components, which will be integrated into the module before launch by the European Space Agency (ESA). These skills are critical to sustainable gateway operations in humans and unmanned times.
Source: NASA
