The Gateway illustrated here will serve as a crucial part of Artemis’ upcoming missions. Illustration: NASA
President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have further confirmed plans to send a Japanese astronaut to the upcoming lunar space station, while confirming the possibility of a Japanese astronaut walking on the moon during future Artemis missions.
Biden and Kishida met in Tokyo on Monday to continue discussions on an implementation agreement that would potentially put a Japanese astronaut on the Gateway space station. The leaders also reaffirmed each country’s commitment to sharing climate change data. The discussion about Gateway personnel is part of ongoing talks between the United States and Japan over upcoming NASA missions to the moon.
The Gateway is an integral part of NASA’s larger effort to return to the moon, a series of upcoming missions known as the Artemis program. Once built, the Gateway will serve as an outpost in orbit to the moon, offering support to astronauts to the moon for their visit. The lunar space station, in addition to serving as a critical infrastructure for Artemis’ missions, will also serve as a starting point for future manned missions to Mars. The first parts of the upcoming lunar station must start no earlier than November 2024.
“In recent years, the alliance between Japan and the United States has become stronger, deeper and more capable as we work together to meet new challenges – as important as opportunities – in a rapidly changing world,” he said. Biden in a press release from NASA.
Japan and the United States are also interested in placing a Japanese astronaut on the surface of the moon during the Artemis mission, which has not yet been determined, according to a White House report. NASA is looking to land astronauts at the South Moon’s pole by 2025, and Artemis will include the moon’s first manned missions since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement: “Our shared ambition is to see how Japanese and American Astronauts walking on the moon together reflect the shared values of our nations to explore space responsibly and transparently for the benefit of humanity here on Earth.
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While the first parts of the Gateway are still a few years away, the unification of the United States and Japan is an opportunity to include more nations. Artemis’ missions will be a global effort, and the return of the moon is an exciting next step in space exploration and engineering.
More: This little moon-bound satellite could carve a path to a lunar space station.
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