U.S., Japan Partnership to Send First Non-American Astronaut to the Moon

The announcement was made during President Biden’s trip to Eastern Asia.

Jeremy Kariuki

Monday, May 23, 2022 at 01:53 PM ET

Verified

So far, only American astronauts have visited the moon, though that might be about to change. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

The U.S. and Japan announced a partnership to send the first Japanese astronaut to the moon before the end of the decade through NASA's Artemis program.
Japan will contribute to the Artemis missions by working on the Gateway Station and providing a Toyota-developed "Lunar Cruiser" rover, expected to launch later this decade.
Japan's space agency, JAXA, is recruiting new astronauts for the first time in 13 years to support these missions, specifically encouraging women to apply.

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On Monday, the U.S. and Japan announced a partnership to send the first Japanese astronaut to the moon.

So far, American astronauts are the only humans to have stepped foot on the moon, but the two countries plan to change that before the end of the decade. President Joe Biden met with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss cooperation through NASA’s Artemis program to the moon and Mars.