NASA signs agreement with Japan on lunar exploration - SpaceNews:
NASA has signed an agreement with the Japanese government that brings the agencies closer to finalizing Japan's roles in the Artemis program.
The agreement, called a Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent, was signed late July 9 in a virtual meeting between NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, in the United States, and Koichi Hagiuda, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the Japanese government, in Japan.
"Today's signing of this declaration of intent builds on the long history of successful cooperation between the U.S. and Japan in space," Bridenstine said in a brief statement about the agreement. "We appreciate Japan's strong support for Artemis and look forward to extending the robust partnership that we have enjoyed on the International Space Station to cislunar space, the lunar surface, and beyond."
Neither government released the text of the declaration, but they described the document as outlining roles for Japan in both human and robotic exploration. That would include contributions to the lunar Gateway and lunar surface exploration.
Previously: Japan Planning to Put a Man on the Moon Around 2030
Project Artemis: NASA Administrator Reportedly Proposed Joint U.S.-Japan Moon Landing
Related: India and Japan to Collaborate on Lunar Lander and Sample Return Mission
JAXA Approves Phobos Sample Return Mission, Set for 2024 Launch
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http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/29/asia/japan-moon-landing-jaxa/index.html
Japan plans to put a man on the moon around 2030, according to a new proposal by the government's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is the first time JAXA has revealed an intention to send Japanese astronauts beyond the International Space Station, and it will mostly likely be part of an international mission, the agency said.
[...] A spokesman for JAXA told CNN the new plan wasn't to send an exclusively Japanese rocket to the Moon, which would be extremely costly, but rather to contribute to a multinational manned lunar probe. By contributing technology, JAXA would hope to be allotted a space on the mission, which would begin preparation in 2025.
Also at Space News.
India, Japan working on lunar sample return mission
India plans to visit the moon a third time and also return, with Japan for company this time.
Their lander and rover mission will bring samples back from moon, the chiefs of the two space agencies said on Friday.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have started to work out the contours of their joint trip — which will be the third for both countries.
They did not say when it would be sent. The plans are in the early stages: Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, A.S.Kiran Kumar, and JAXA president Naoki Okumura said the 'implementation arrangements' are likely be reached in a couple of months.
Related: Japan Planning to Put a Man on the Moon Around 2030
Enter the Moon Cave
India's Chandrayaan-2 Moon Mission Planned for 2018
NASA Proposed Sending Japanese Astronauts to the Moon
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine secretly proposed using US rockets to send Japanese astronauts to the Moon, Japanese newspaper The Mainichi reports, citing "multiple sources" familiar with the talks.
According to the paper, Bridenstine made the proposal during an unofficial September 2019 visit in which he met with space industry leaders, including the head of the Japanese government's Space Policy Committee. Bridenstine reportedly encouraged attendees to consider a future in which Japanese astronauts joined Americans on the lunar surface.
Phobos sample return mission enters development for 2024 launch
Japan's space agency has approved a robotic mission to retrieve a sample from the Martian moon Phobos for return to Earth to begin full development for a planned launch in 2024, officials said Thursday.
The Martian Moon eXploration, or MMX, spacecraft will attempt to return the first specimens from Phobos for analysis in laboratories on Earth, where scientists hope to trace the origins of the Martian moons to determine whether they were asteroids captured by Mars, or if they formed out of rocky debris generated from an ancient impact on Mars.
[...] The probe will land on Phobos and snare at least 10 grams, or about a third of an ounce, of material from the moon's surface using a coring collection system before taking off again. MMX will also release a German-French rover to explore the terrain and chemical composition of Phobos for roughly three months.
MMX will perform several close flybys of Deimos, the smaller of Mars's two moons, before departing the orbit of Mars in 2028 on a course back to Earth, where a sample return carrier will re-enter the atmosphere and land containing specimens gathered at Phobos. The MMX spacecraft's return to Earth in 2029 would complete the first round-trip voyage to Mars and back, JAXA said.
Phobos (moon). The Fobos-Grunt mission was intended to retrieve a sample from Phobos, but it failed to escape Earth's orbit and was destroyed in an uncontrolled re-entry in 2012.
Also at Popular Mechanics and The Verge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 14 2020, @06:42PM (1 child)
...............
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday July 15 2020, @01:33AM
Clearly there are geeks in these departments - the acronym for Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent is far geekier than that of a Memorandum of Understanding.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 14 2020, @07:04PM (5 children)
Price War Between SpaceX and Russia [soylentnews.org]
Russian Space Chief Vows to Find "Full Name" of Technician Who Caused ISS Leak [soylentnews.org]
NASA and Roscosmos Release Joint Statement on ISS Leak Amid Rumors [soylentnews.org]
Head of Russian Space Agency Roscosmos Wavers on Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway [soylentnews.org]
Future of U.S.-Russian Space Cooperation in Doubt [soylentnews.org]
Russia Space Chief Spars with Elon Musk Over Launch Pricing [soylentnews.org]
Russia Is Furious, Saying the US is Mocking Its Space Program [futurism.com]
Yesterday: Russian space chief questions NASA plans, praises partnership with China [arstechnica.com]
Kick those alcoholic has-beens to the curb, let them attach themselves to the Chinese program.
This partnership aligns well with a Japanese goal to put a man on the Moon by 2030 [soylentnews.org].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 14 2020, @07:15PM
Space leeches? Jesus H. We only thought Covid was bad!
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Tuesday July 14 2020, @09:31PM (3 children)
You know what they say, an alcoholic is one who drinks more than you!
Anyway, you should be grateful for almost a decade of U.S. astronauts getting to space on Russian rockets [wired.com]. Of course, the world now knows that the U.S. does not have partners, only interests.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 14 2020, @09:49PM (2 children)
No, I don't have to be grateful. They got something called "money" in exchange for launching astronauts to the ISS, and they demanded more of it as time went on, and threatened to cut off cooperation over Crimea [vox.com] and other diplomatic spats.
We used the ISS program to prop up the Russian state space industry post-Soviet Union in order to keep their engineers from wandering around and building missiles for North Korea, Iran, etc. Now it's time to kick their asses to the curb. If they can have a fruitful collaboration with China, good for them.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Touché) by jelizondo on Tuesday July 14 2020, @10:34PM (1 child)
So what prevents current Russian engineers going to North Korea, Iran, etc. and building missiles, nuclear ones at that? Or does the U.S. doesn't care anymore if those guys get nukes?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 14 2020, @10:58PM
Russia is more stable than it was in the early 90s. Not looking too great, especially with COVID and an aging population, but not as crazy and lawless.
Israel periodically offs scientists/engineers in Iran, and Iran's program also experiences mysterious problems [theguardian.com] that could be inflicted by the U.S. or Israel.
North Korea has nukes, missiles, and can probably combine the two by now. China should be worrying about it more than the U.S.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Tuesday July 14 2020, @09:24PM (1 child)
So, secret intentions regarding the Moon?
Why should such an agreement not be public, particularly when it does not seem to concern military secrets? Or does it?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by PaperNoodle on Tuesday July 14 2020, @09:39PM
It has to be secret. Gotta keep aliens/obelisk/nazis/god/edge of universe/flat earth/3 legged dogs/911 inside job/JFK assassination/vaccine autism/fake moon landing recording studio on the moon/lizard people/illuminati a secret.
The world isn't ready for those kind of truth bombs.
B3