Japanese astronauts will
ride on NASA Artemis missions to the moon, and potentially even reach the surface, amid an interagency push to expand lunar exploration.
President Joe Biden and
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed that commitment Monday (May 23) during a meeting in Tokyo, NASA and the White House said in separate announcements.
A Japanese astronaut
will visit NASA's planned Gateway moon-orbiting space station,
Japan's space work is
part of a larger set of agreements between that country and the United States on various matters
Japan is a major space player
In December 2020, for example, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency brought back a sample of an asteroid to Earth.
JAXA is a long-time
International Space Station (ISS) partner, best known, perhaps, for its Kibo science module and robotic arm technology.