The moon landing is planned as part of a broader program of activities in the area and on the surface of the Earth's satellite, which will be carried out in cooperation with the United States
TOKYO, December 28. /tass/. The Japanese government intends to land its astronauts on the moon in the second half of the 2020s. This was stated by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting held in Tokyo on Tuesday on the strategy of space exploration, the Kyodo news agency reported.
The moon landing is planned as part of a broader program of activities in the area and on the surface of the Earth's satellite, which will be carried out in cooperation with the United States. In particular, in December, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) began accepting applications for participation in a new set of astronauts who will participate in the implementation of these plans. The competition will last until March 4 next year.
Currently, the JAXA astronaut squad consists of seven people, the average age of the members of this group is 52 years. By the 2030s, when active exploration of the Moon is expected, only two of them will remain in service, the rest will have to retire.
In the spring of 2019, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced a draft program for the exploration and exploration of the Moon Artemis. At its third stage, it is planned to land astronauts on an Earth satellite approximately at the end of the 2020s.
Tokyo in 2019 announced its decision to join the American lunar program. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and NASA have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of research of the Earth's natural satellite. We are talking about cooperation in the supply of equipment, the exchange of data on the lunar surface, the joint creation of a lunar rover, as well as the possible sending of Japanese astronauts to the Moon.
