This was announced at a joint press conference by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida. The first Artemis mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface, Artemis 3, is planned for 2026.
A Japanese astronaut will be the first non-American to land on the moon as part of the US Artemis mission, the leaders of both countries announced this Wednesday (April 10).
“Two Japanese astronauts will participate in future US missions, and one of them will be the first non-American to land on the moon,” US President Joe Biden said at a joint press conference in Washington. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The mission is planned for 2026
On an official visit to the United States, he praised the “huge success in the field of space” and also announced the signing of an agreement for Japan to provide the United States with a lunar rover.
The United States plans to return to the moon as part of its Artemis program, which will send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon.
Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo program took 12 American men there, all white. These are the only 12 people to walk on the moon.
The first Artemis mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface, Artemis 3, is planned for 2026. China plans to send humans to the moon by 2030.
Tokyo and Washington already cooperate closely in space, particularly in the International Space Station operations.
The two countries said they plan to “deepen cooperation on astronaut training” to achieve their new goal, according to a joint statement by the two leaders.
Artemis 2 is planned for 2025
The statement also specifies that the Japanese-developed rover will be pressurized, unlike lunar vehicles ordered by NASA from private American companies. In a pressurized rover, astronauts will not need a suit and will be able to travel greater distances.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is also to be booked on Artemis missions in exchange for significant technological contributions.
The Artemis program was launched in 2022 with the Artemis 1 spacecraft successfully orbiting the Moon with a vacuum ship.
Artemis 2 is scheduled for launch in 2025 and is expected to send four astronauts on a journey around the moon without landing there. There will already be three Americans and one Canadian at training.
Artemis 3 should be the first manned mission to land on the lunar surface since 1972. The composition of its crew is not yet known.
In January, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the moon when a robot landed there.