WASHINGTON , May 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo Monday when they announcement progress on collaboration for human and robotic lunar missions. They confirmed their commitment to include a Japanese astronaut aboard the Gateway lunar outpost and their shared ambition to see a future Japanese astronaut land on the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
“In recent years, the alliance between Japan and United States has become stronger, deeper and more capable as we work together to meet new challenges – just as important as the opportunities – of a rapidly changing world,” President Biden said. from Japan lunar rover… a symbol of the development of our space cooperation, facing the Moon and Mars. And I’m excited about the work we will do together on the Gateway station around the Moon and I look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining us on the mission to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program.”
United States and Japan are working to formalize the Japanese astronaut’s inclusion on Gateway through an implementation agreement later this year. “Our shared ambition to see Japanese and American astronauts walk on the Moon together reflects our nations’ shared values to responsibly and transparently explore space for the benefit of humanity here on Earth,” the administrator said. The NASA. Bill Nelson. “With this historic announcement, President Biden is once again showing nations around the world that America will not go it alone but with like-minded partners. Under Artemis, we intend to invest and ‘explore the cosmos with countries that promote science, economic opportunity, and a common set of shared values.’
As part of ongoing collaborations on space and Earth science missions, President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida reaffirmed United States and from Japan continued cooperation in sharing Earth science data to improve scientific understanding of Earth’s climate change.
In addition, the President confirmed United States’ intend to provide Japan with a sample of the asteroid Bennu in 2023, collected from NASA OSIRIS-REx assignment. Japan provided United States with an asteroid sample collected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa2 Asteroid Sample Return Mission in 2021.
JAXA is also an essential partner of NASA in helping the agency achieve its goals for scientific and human exploration, including on the International Space Station and through the Artemis. In 2020, Japan became one of the first signatories of the Artemis Accords andfinalized an agreementwith NASA to provide several capabilities to Gateway’s I-HAB, which will provide the core of Gateway’s survivability capabilities and additional space where the crew will live, work and conduct research during Artemis missions. JAXA’s planned contributions include the I-HAB environmental and life support system, batteries, thermal control and imaging components, which will be integrated into the module by ESA (European Space Agency) before launch. These capabilities are essential for sustained bridge operations during manned and unmanned periods of time.
To learn more about NASA’s Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
SOURCENASA
