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Japan Technology

Japan Aims To Put a Person on the Moon by Late 2020s (reuters.com) 34

Japan revised the schedule of its space exploration plans on Tuesday, aiming to put a Japanese person on the moon by the latter half of the 2020s. From a report: "Not only is space a frontier that gives people hopes and dreams but it also provides a crucial foundation to our economic society with respect to our economic security," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting to finalise the plan. According to the draft schedule of the plan, Japan aims to put the first non-American on the moon as part of the Artemis programme, a U.S.-led initiative that aims to return astronauts to the moon. The plan also spells out Japan's aspirations to launch a probe to explore Mars in 2024, as well as to find ways to generate solar electricity in space.
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Japan Aims To Put a Person on the Moon by Late 2020s

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  • Build solar panel array ... point at sun. I think this has already been figured out.
  • It would be a lot cheaper and quicker and accomplish about as much as a human. Better yet, send the CUE3, a third generation basketball playing Toyota AI robot that made 2,020 free throws in a row without missing. It could be the first being of any kind to make a free throw on the moon and provide more entertainment at the same time.
      • That Gundam they're building is a few years away from full autonomy. I'm not sure we've got the capacity to shove up the whole frame structure it still needs to stand.

        • That Gundam they're building is a few years away from full autonomy. I'm not sure we've got the capacity to shove up the whole frame structure it still needs to stand.

          The ISS is pretty large... Can always send it up in parts.

          • The ISS is pretty large... Can always send it up in parts.

            Yeah, load it up on the next space shuttle.

            Oh yeah...

            • The ISS is pretty large... Can always send it up in parts.

              Yeah, load it up on the next space shuttle.

              Oh yeah...

              Yeah.. That's the only way we can get crap up into space.. We don't have anything else that will put anything large into orbit.

    • You're thinking of our machines as some sort of rival to man in space. I think of man and machine as being one system. As man proceeds into space, we will be cocooned by our machines and ready when real-time flexibility is required beyond the programming of any machine.

      Consider the unfolding of JWST that is now underway. There are 344 mechanical steps in this process, each depending on its predecessor and every one of which have to work to make the mission a success. Hubble was a much simpler machine than t

  • by dmay34 ( 6770232 ) on Tuesday December 28, 2021 @05:13PM (#62123131)

    Artemis will never fly. It was never supposed to fly. It's not flying this year, and it's not going to fly next year either. It's a it's a Public Relations jobs program to funnel money to weapons manufacturers so that they can brag that they are doing things that aren't directly designed to kill people.

    • You're talking about the SLS, not the Artemis program. The Artemis program in total encompasses a lot more than just the SLS. And I do believe it will have missions to the moon within the next decade or so, though I have my doubts the SLS will play any significant part outside of a publicity launch that may be successful somewhere way down the line. That money siphon isn't everything it's been cracked up to be.

      • Selective Laser Sintering kills people?

      • As exciting a rocket the SLS is, really, it is two expensive, too late. And by expensive, I don't mean "throw taxpayer dollars at it" expensive. I mean "each of the four engines costs $160,000,000 so we're going to empty the museums of RS-25's to save money" expensive.

        Understand that just one engine - out of four - on the SLS costs more than a Falcon Heavy flight. Starship will cost an order of magnitude less per flight, and are aiming for _two_ orders of magnitude less.

        To be clear: one engine alone for SLS

    • Japan will have more luck developing their own moon mission and it will be quicker than the USA

      • Japan will have more luck developing their own moon mission and it will be quicker than the USA

        Quicker than the USA?

        *peers through telescope*

        That flag has been up there for a while, Speed Racer.

    • Artemis will never fly. It was never supposed to fly. It's not flying this year, and it's not going to fly next year either. It's a it's a Public Relations jobs program to funnel money to weapons manufacturers so that they can brag that they are doing things that aren't directly designed to kill people.

      Doubtful. Japan, you see Doesn't. Have. Nuclear. Weapons. (tm)

      For that to be totally believable, they need an active aerospace program which can dump a passive chunk of appropriately sized concrete at any poi

  • by swell ( 195815 ) <jabberwock@poetic.com> on Tuesday December 28, 2021 @05:13PM (#62123133)

    The Japanese people have much to be proud of.

    If this is a stunt to show that they can do it, don't. Unless there is significant science that this human can do; science that can be done no other way, then it's just flag waving. Do something else, you're smarter than that.

    • The Japanese people have much to be proud of.

      If this is a stunt to show that they can do it, don't. Unless there is significant science that this human can do; science that can be done no other way, then it's just flag waving. Do something else, you're smarter than that.

      Actually this is brilliant, in a way. You get to send the first Japanese person to the moon without wasting all your time and money on a space program. Meanwhile, we'll send the first black man and first woman, but have to pay for the whole fucking thing.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      JAXA, the Japanese space agency, does interesting research that leads to commercial applications. So that's what this is, a nice bit of pride in having a Japanese person walk on the moon, but mostly about pumping tax money into R&D projects that will have some commercial ROI.

    • Human spaceflight is an application of science, not just a tool of it. To tell people "Don't go into space unless it serves science" would be as strange as telling them not to go to Australia unless it serves cartography. Exploring is an essential human instinct, and exploration that imposes no involuntary risks does not have to be justified on any grounds other than itself.
  • Cowboy Bebop, here we come....let's hope the Japanese scientists aren't such big fans that they repeat the 2036 mistake.

  • Feels like the moon isn't a massive funding draw anymore unless you think you found where Pink Floyd recorded that album
    • >Feels like the moon isn't a massive funding draw anymore unless you think you found where Pink Floyd recorded that album

      Like for a lot of investments in recent years, after decades of favoring a reduction of wealth redistribution, more and more entities, and individuals, have access to larger and larger amounts of capital and are wondering what to do with it all.

      Not sure that's part of what's behind what's happening here though.

  • US politicians also repeatedly promise pie and sky, but underfund missions such that it's in perpetual development and/or gets cancelled by next administration. They like to play JFK, but don't have JFK's wallet and circumstances.

  • For Britain, I nominate Boris Johnson, please send him to the moon ASAP. No need to bring him back.

  • and Mexico will pay for it, and the US, and UK, and France, and Australia, and Japan, and...

    • If the moon's orbit destabilizes for any reason, we need a powerful thruster to move it back into place. All the hot air stored inside Trump will do.

      • by NateFromMich ( 6359610 ) on Tuesday December 28, 2021 @06:44PM (#62123397)
        If you guys are still suffering from TDS after more than a year without him being president, you should probably consult your doctor.
        Even at this point, it's somewhat concerning.
        • by gtall ( 79522 )

          TDS? I don't think we need to bring the ability to believe in Dear Leader into this. Remember, he destroys everything he touches. . .RIP Republican Party.

          • We should just forget about the near destruction of the entire country under his watch. And let's just forget the Capitol riot and only think good thoughts.

            Bu..bu..but Biden- Seriously, he inherited a real shit show and I don't think anyone would've performed better.

            Bu..bu..bu..Afghanistan. Yeah, we were not going to stay there forever. They had 20 years to get their shit together, at the expense of the US. We had to pull the plug.

            Hopwfully now we can focus on taking care of our own.

        • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

          eat dog poop

        • People railed on about Nixon for decades.
          People still remember McCarthyism.

            We should never forget about a bad president otherwise we are guaranteed a new one.

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