NASA to send a Japanese astronaut to Moon under Artemis Program, POTUS Biden confirms

US President Joe Biden, during his meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, announced on May 23, that the US will soon put a Japanese astronaut on the Moon under the Artemis Program. Biden, who is in Tokyo for QUAD summit, also confirmed America’s commitment to include a Japanese astronaut in the development of the Lunar Gateway, an outpost that will be installed in the lunar orbit. According to the White House Fact Sheet, both the nations are planning to sign an Implementing Arrangement for Gateway cooperation in 2022. 

Japanese astronauts to be included in Moon landings, Gateway

Until now, no astronaut apart from the US has landed on the Moon and Washington intends to make it happen under the Artemis Program which kick starts possibly in August this year.

Emphasising a “stronger, deeper, and more capable” alliance between the US and Japan, President Biden said that the space cooperation between the nations is “taking off”. “I'm excited about the work we'll do together on the Gateway station around the Moon and look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining us in the mission to the lunar surface under the Artemis program”, Biden said in a statement. The US highlighted that the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been a crucial contributor to space advancement and will provide capabilities for the Gateway under the Artemis Accords it signed in 2020. 

JAXA will be responsible for the development of the Gateway’s I-HAB, the heart of Gateway that will support the crew living, working, and conducting research in the lunar orbit during the Artemis missions. 

While welcoming Biden's announcement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "Our shared ambition to see Japanese and American astronauts walk on the Moon together reflects our nations’ shared values to explore space responsibly and transparently for the benefit of humanity here on Earth". Calling the announcement "historic", Nelson said, "that America will not go alone but with like-minded partners". He also underscored the intention behind the Artemis Program is to increase cohesiveness between countries promoting "science, economic opportunity, and a common set of shared values". 

US-Japan to barter asteroid samples

During the Japan-US leadership meeting, Biden revealed that the US will provide Japan with asteroid samples that were collected by NASA from the Bennu asteroid. NASA will hand over the samples in 2023 in return for the asteroid samples collected by Japan under the Hayabusa2 mission in November 2021. "The United States and Japan are cooperating to use Earth observation data to improve our capability to predict how our climate is changing", the White House fact sheet stated.