Biden announced a partnership between the United States and Japan in space exploration
Under a new agreement between the United States and Japan, the only other astronaut to walk on the moon will be a Japanese one. This was announced by US President Joe Biden during the state visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on April 10.
To date, only 12 people have landed on the Moon — all Americans — as part of NASA's Apollo program from 1969 to 1972. The American Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the Moon as early as late 2025, with the first landing planned for the program's third mission in 2026.
The crew of Artemis 2 will consist of four people. The new lunar exploration agreement signed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahito Moriyama does not specify which Artemis missions Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts will participate in, but is subject to compliance «important indicators».
«Japan will develop a lunar rover for NASA», — Nelson said in a video message, — «This will help us find ourselves in territory we have never visited before, the astronauts will be able to remain on the surface for several days».
Since 2019, JAXA and Toyota have been collaborating on the development of a lunar rover that uses Toyota fuel cell technology to power the vehicle. The Lunar Cruiser, named after the Toyota Land Cruiser, is designed for multi-day trips.
«This is a mobile habitat, a lunar laboratory, a lunar home and a lunar rover. This is a place where astronauts will be able to live, work and move around the lunar surface», — said Nelson.
The Lunar Cruiser that NASA will send to the Moon is expected to be ready by 2031 for use by the Artemis 7 crew, and then serve on subsequent missions for 10 years.
«The rover will be a major contribution to the overall Artemis architecture, as Japan and the United States will go hand in hand with international and industry partners on the lunar surface and beyond», — noted JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa.
The Japanese lunar rover will complement a smaller, unpressurized vehicle being developed by three American companies. Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab are working on Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) concepts for use by Artemis astronauts over shorter distances.
In addition to landing two Japanese astronauts on the moon, NASA and JAXA previously agreed to send a JAXA crew member to the Gateway lunar orbit in exchange for Japan providing environmental control and life support systems for the human-servable platform, as well as meeting some requirements in delivering cargo to the Moon.
JAXA currently has five active astronauts — Satoshi Furukawa, Akihiko Hoshide, Kimiya Yui, Takuya Onishi and Norishige Kanai — and in 2023 hired two more candidates — Makoto Suwa (Makoto Suwa) and Ayu Yoneda (Ayu Yoneda) — to prepare for future lunar missions.