Japan Aims To Put First Non-American On The Moon Within The Decade

Japan announces plans to put a person on the Moon before the ongoing decade comes to an end, bestowing the selected astronaut with the distinction of being the first non-American to set foot on the lunar surface. It is somewhat surprising that man first landed on the Moon all the way back in 1969, and after launching successive crewed landing missions for a while, no human being has had the opportunity to walk on the lunar soil since 1972. However, things are about to change soon.

As part of the Artemis program, NASA is planning to put the first person on the Moon in just a few years from now. The space agency originally targeted 2024 for its ambitious moonshot, but a combination of factors forced it to push the plans of putting a person back on the Moon to the year 2025. Once those plans have materialized, the next stage of the Artemis mission will take humanity to the surface of Mars. Japan happens to be one of the partners in the Artemis initiative, and the country is pinning its own national moonshot goals on the ambitious program.

Now, for the first time, Japan has shared concrete details about its plans for a manned mission to the Moon. As per a Reuters report, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced the country aims to put a person on the Moon in the second half of the ongoing decade. “Not only is space a frontier that gives people hopes and dreams but it also provides a crucial foundation to our economic society with respect to our economic security,” Kishida was quoted as saying. In doing so, the selected Japanese astronaut will also become the first non-American to walk on Earth’s natural satellite that is about to become a mining destination in the near future.

To The Moon, And Beyond

Per The Japan News, Japan will send its astronaut, cherrypicked most likely from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as part of the Artemis missions. JAXA is already working with NASA on a critical Artemis component named Gateway, an orbiting outpost that will provide vital support for manned missions to the Moon and bodies beyond it as well. As a project member, JAXA will contribute towards the development of habitation components and logistics resupply aspects for the Gateway lunar station. Aside from the Gateway, NASA has awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to names like Blue Origin for building private space stations.

However, in an age where commercial space tourism for billionaires has already taken off, it’s only a matter of time before private parties like SpaceX and Blue Origin graduate from providing space joyrides to lunar odysseys for deep-pocket clients. JAXA is far from being the major stakeholder in such a future. In fact, one of its competitors might come from its home country. Earlier this year, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa — who recently returned from a trip to the space station — invited the general public to compete for a spot on his very own private mission around the Moon.

Source: Reuters, The Japan News

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