A Japanese astronaut will be the first non-American to land on the Moon, as part of a mission of the American Artemis program, the leaders of the two countries said Wednesday. The United States has thus offered Japan, a close ally with which it seeks to further strengthen its ties, a position that many nations would have dreamed of achieving.
“Two Japanese astronauts will take part in future American missions, and one of them will be the first non-American to land on the Moon,” declared the President of the United States, Joe Biden, during a conference of joint press in Washington with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The latter, on an official visit, hailed “a tremendous success in the space field”, announcing that Japan would provide in exchange an ultra-sophisticated lunar rover.
The American Artemis program aims to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon, and must send there the first woman and the first person of color. Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo program took 12 American men there, all white. These are the only humans to have set foot on lunar soil so far. “America will no longer walk on the Moon alone,” rejoiced NASA boss Bill Nelson on Wednesday in a video posted on social networks. “Diplomacy is good for discoveries. And discoveries are good for diplomacy,” he added.
The Japanese space agency (Jaxa) is “extremely happy”, an agency spokesperson told AFP. “We will do our best” to honor this US-Japanese collaboration, he added. The first Artemis mission to send astronauts to the Moon, Artemis 3, is planned for 2026. China also plans to send humans there by 2030.
A “mobile home” rover
Tokyo and Washington already cooperate closely in the space domain, notably within the framework of operations of the International Space Station. The two countries plan to “deepen their cooperation on astronaut training” to achieve their new goal, according to a joint statement from their two leaders. But for a Japanese astronaut to actually become the first non-American on the Moon, “significant steps” will “have to be taken,” according to the statement.
The rover that Japan will provide will be pressurized, unlike the lunar vehicles ordered by NASA from American companies. In a pressurized rover, astronauts will not need to wear suits and will be able to travel greater distances. “It’s a mobile habitat, a laboratory, a house and a lunar explorer,” Bill Nelson said.
Two astronauts should be able to live there for up to 30 days in a row, said NASA, which said it would like to be able to use it from the Artemis 7 mission.
What about the Europeans?
The European Space Agency (ESA) already has three places reserved within the Artemis program. It has been confirmed that a European astronaut will be on board Artemis 4 and Artemis 5. But will the European astronauts then remain in orbit around the Moon, or will they go to the surface? This “is the subject of further discussions,” Daniel Neuenschwander, director of exploration at ESA, told AFP. The third seat has not yet been allocated to a particular mission.
In return, ESA contributes significantly to the lunar effort, notably by providing the propulsion stage for the astronauts’ spacecraft and a habitation module for the future station in lunar orbit, Gateway.
Asked about possible European disappointment following the announcement about Japan, Daniel Neuenschwander said he “understands that there are considerations going beyond space leading to this close cooperation between the United States and Japan”, and being “more geostrategic”.
The Artemis program was inaugurated in 2022 with Artemis 1, which successfully flew a vacuum craft around the Moon. Artemis 2 is planned for 2025 and will send four astronauts on a trip around the Moon, without landing there. There will be three Americans and one Canadian, already in training. Artemis 3 should then be the first manned mission to land on the lunar surface since 1972. The composition of its crew is not yet known.
Asked by AFP about the mission in which a first Japanese astronaut would take part, NASA simply replied that it had not made any announcement of crews beyond Artemis 2. Japan also became in January the fifth country to have successfully landed on the Moon, by landing a robot there.