Japan plans first moon landing through Artemis program

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

In exchange for Japan providing a pressurized vehicle that will greatly enhance astronauts’ ability to explore the lunar surface, NASA will include two Japanese astronauts on future Artemis lunar missions, according to the White House. If their Artemis mission occurs before China’s planned flight, they will be the first non-Americans to land on the moon.

NASA said Japan’s contribution to Artemis “will serve as a long-term mobile habitat and laboratory for astronauts to live and work, allowing astronauts to travel further and conduct scientific research in different geographical areas.” NASA also noted that it “can accommodate two astronauts traveling around the Moon’s South Pole for up to 30 days.” The space agency’s goal is to “use the pressurized rover on Artemis 7 and subsequent missions over a lifetime of approximately 10 years.”

U.S.-Japan relations do have their ups and downs. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry led a squadron of U.S. naval vessels into Japanese waters and, through threats and diplomacy, ended more than two centuries of isolation and launched Japan into the world. Finally, after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Japan became a world power,

In the late 20th century, the United States and its allies engaged in a desperate struggle with Japan on the other side of the Pacific, starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor and ending with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For much of the remainder of the 20th century, Japan remained an ally of the United States in the Cold War but a competitor in commercial and technological development.

Entering the 21st century, a new Cold War is developing, with China as the main enemy. Just like the first version, part of this fight takes place in space. In launching the Artemis program, the United States added considerable capabilities that were improvements over the Apollo lunar landing program, the most important of which was making return to the lunar surface an international effort.

One feature is the Artemis Accords, an agreement between nations on the rules of space exploration. Switzerland and Sweden are the latest signatories to the agreements, bringing the number to 38 and counting.

NASA has also certified Artemis as an international effort to include Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen as part of the Artemis II mission around the moon planned for late 2025. Adding two Japanese astronauts was the next logical step.

How do both countries benefit from this lunar partnership?

Japan has direct access to technology developed as a result of Artemis, which will have applications in space and on Earth. Just as important, the country will have the bragging rights of landing astronauts on the moon.

NASA got what was essentially a Lunar RV, a pressurized vehicle that could carry two astronauts on long trips across the lunar surface, visiting sites quite far from the landing site. Astronauts can wear shirts to work and live in the car, or they can wear spacesuits to collect geological samples and conduct experiments outside. The deal is separate from NASA’s recently announced three commercial lunar rovers.

Large-scale space exploration projects, including the original Apollo moon landings and the International Space Station, have always had a soft political power component. The United States implemented the Apollo program to impress the world with its technological prowess, which was an important thing during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Artemis has a similar soft political power side, but with significant differences from Apollo. More than 50 years ago, the world was expected to watch the original moon landings with awe (and fear on the Soviet side), but now the world is invited to participate in the next one.

Now, the rest of the world, especially those that signed the Artemis Accords, must be wondering how to get astronauts to fly Artemis missions to the moon. NASA is open for business and we can expect more announcements from more countries in due course.

Mark R. Whittington, who frequently writes about space policy, published a study on the politics of space exploration titled “Why is returning to the moon so difficult?” also”The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, recently, “Why should the United States return to the moon?” His blog is located at Grumpy corner.