Japan’s planning its first lunar steps with the Artemis program

The United States and Japan have signed an agreement that will change the direction of space exploration.

According to the White House, In exchange for Japan providing a pressurized vehicle that would greatly expand astronauts’ ability to explore the moon, NASA plans to have two Japanese astronauts participate in future Artemis missions to the moon. If the Artemis mission occurs before China’s planned flight, they will be the first non-Americans to walk on the moon.

NASA said Japan’s contribution to Artemis is designed to “serve as a mobile habitat and laboratory for astronauts to live and work for extended periods of time, allowing them to travel further and be more geographically diverse.” NASA also said it could “accommodate two astronauts for up to 30 days traversing the region near the moon’s south pole.” The space agency aims to “use the pressurized rover on Artemis VII and subsequent missions for a lifetime of approximately 10 years.”

Japan-US relations have certainly had their ups and downs. In 1853, Admiral Matthew Perry led a squadron of U.S. Navy ships into Japanese territorial waters, using a combination of intimidation and diplomacy. It brought an end to Japan’s more than two centuries of national isolation. and brought the country to the world. After all, after that, Russo-Japanese War From 1904 to 1905, Japan became a world power.

In the second half of the 20th century, the United States and its allies waged a deadly war against Japan across the Pacific, beginning with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and ending with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan spent much of the remainder of the 20th century as an ally of the United States during the Cold War, but a rival in trade and technological development.

In the 21st century, a new Cold War has developed, with China as the main enemy. As in the first version, part of that struggle takes place in space. At the start of the Artemis program, the United States is adding a number of features that improve upon the Apollo program that landed humans on the moon, most notably making return to the moon an international effort. .

One of those features is the Artemis Accords, an agreement between nations on rules for conducting space exploration. Switzerland and Sweden are the latest signatories. The number of agreements has reached 38 and is still growing.

NASA also proved that Artemis is an international effort by enlisting Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen to join the Artemis II mission around the moon, scheduled for late 2025. The logic behind having two Japanese astronauts participate in subsequent Artemis missions is as follows. Let’s take that strategy one step further.

How will both countries benefit from this lunar partnership?

Japan has direct access to technologies developed as a result of Artemis that will have applications both in space and on Earth. Equally important, this country will have the bragging rights of having astronauts walk on the moon.

NASA has acquired what is essentially a lunar RV, a pressurized vehicle that can take two astronauts long distances on the lunar surface and visit sites well beyond their landing site. Astronauts can work and live inside the vehicle in their shirt sleeves, and go outside in their spacesuits to take geological samples or complete experiments.This deal is different three commercial lunar rovers This was recently announced by NASA.

Large-scale space exploration projects, including the original Apollo program that landed humans on the moon and the International Space Station, have always included an element of soft political power. The United States embarked on the Apollo program, an important initiative during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, to impress the world with its technological prowess.

Artemis has a similar soft political power side, but with a big difference from Apollo. More than 50 years ago, the world was expected to watch the first moon landing in awe (and on the Soviet side, with fear), but now the world is being invited to participate in the next moon landing. ing.

Now, the rest of the world, especially those that have signed the Artemis Accord, must be wondering how they can get astronauts on the Artemis mission to the moon. NASA has resumed operations and further announcements from more countries are expected in the coming days.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, writes,Why is it so difficult to return to the moon?” Similarly “To the moon, Mars and beyond”, and more recently”Why will America return to the moon?” He blogs at: Karma John’s Corner.