Foot. NASA
The Prime Minister of Japan has announced an ambitious government plan to send a Japanese astronaut to the Silver Globe as part of the national contribution to the implementation of the American lunar program Artemis. Japanese authorities hope their national will be the first non-US individual to land on the Silver Globe.
NASA plans to return humans to Earth’s natural satellite surface within decades. However, before the first manned landing (since the Apollo mission) occurs, the agency must first verify the operation of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule during the uncrewed Artemis-1 mission and manned vehicle test. Journey around the Moon (Artemis-2). If the missions are successful, the expedition with a manned lander, which will be delivered by SpaceX, will depart.
Meanwhile, in late December 2021, NASA confirmed the inevitable delay in the launch of the Artemis 1 mission, indicating no later than March 2022 – the ultimate cause was problems with the RS-25 engine in the rocket’s central stage. As work on the mission progressed, there were also questions about the composition of the next crews aboard the spacecraft for future Artemis missions.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which is also a partner in the Artemis program, signed an agreement with NASA in December last year, thanks to which the Canadian astronaut will join the crew of the Artemis-2 lunar mission (the remaining three places will be taken by American astronauts) . It is also known that at least two American astronauts will participate in the Artemis-3 mission, assuming the first human landing on the moon since 1972. However, when the next landings will occur and what composition of the astronauts will participate in them remains a question. to be specified.
Here, the recently discussed topic of NASA’s collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Agency (JAXA) emerged, which could soon lead to astronauts from Japan participating in subsequent landings on the Silver Globe. Recently elected Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he has agreed to a decade-old goal of sending Japanese astronauts to the Moon in the program. “We will promote the Artemis project to carry out manned operations on the moon, and we will try to land Japanese astronauts on the moon in late 2020,” Kishida said.
After concluding a bilateral agreement with NASA (Artemis Agreements), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency pledged to take specific steps to select and train Japanese astronauts for the lunar mission. The call for applications began on December 20 and will end on March 4. The agreement also provides for cooperation with the Japanese private sector to develop lunar modules and other systems necessary for human activity on the Moon.
One of the obstacles that must be overcome is to secure budget funds for the implementation of the project. However, there are many indications that the Japanese authorities, having had the opportunity to go down in history, will constantly strive to ensure that the astronaut reached the surface of the Silver Globe.
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