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 have partnered through NASA's Artemis program to send the first Japanese astronaut to the moon before the end of the decade.
Japan will contribute to the lunar Gateway Station and is actively recruiting new astronauts, encouraging women, for these missions.
Japan has also developed the "Lunar Cruiser," a manned lunar rover in collaboration with Toyota, equipped with life support and a robotic arm, expected to launch later this decade.

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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.