US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in Tokyo on May 23. They announced the progress of cooperation between human and robot missions to the moon They confirmed their commitment to land a Japanese astronaut on the moon's gateway outpost and their common hope to see future Japanese astronauts land on the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program
Biden said: "In recent years, the alliance between Japan and the United States has become stronger, deeper and more capable, as we work together to meet the new challenges of a rapidly changing world - as important as opportunities. A good example of this. We watched Japan's lunar rover... It symbolizes that our space cooperation is taking off, facing the moon and Mars. And I'm grateful for what we will do together on the portal around the moon We are excited about our work and look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining our mission on the lunar surface under the Artemis program. "
The United States and Japan are working to formally confirm the participation of Japanese astronauts in the "portal" outpost through an implementation arrangement later this year.
"We see that the common ambition of Japanese and American astronauts to walk on the moon reflects the common values of our country, that is, to explore space responsibly and transparently for the benefit of mankind on earth," said NASA Director Bill Nelson. "Through this historic announcement, President Biden once again made it clear to the world that the United States will not act alone, but with like-minded partners. Under the Artemis plan, we intend to invest and explore the universe with countries that promote science, economic opportunities and a range of common values."
Biden and Fumio Kishida confirmed the continued cooperation between the United States and Japan in geoscience data sharing to better understand the scientific knowledge of Earth climate change as part of the ongoing space and geoscience mission partnership.
In addition, Biden confirmed that the United States intends to provide Japan with samples of the asteroid Bennu collected by NASA's Osiris Rex mission in 2023. Japan provided the United States with asteroid samples collected in 2021 by the Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
JAXA is also an important partner of NASA to help the agency achieve its goals in science and human exploration, including the international space station and Artemis missions. In 2020, Japan became the original signatory of the Artemis agreement and finalized an agreement with NASA to provide a number of capabilities for gateway's i-hab, which will provide the core and additional space for gateway's life support capabilities, and astronauts will live, work and conduct research during the Artemis mission. JAXA's planned contributions include i-hab's environmental control and life support system, battery, thermal control and image components, which will be integrated into modules by ESA before launch. These capabilities are critical for continuous "portal" operations during manned and unmanned periods.