By 2030, Japan plans to land its astronauts on the moon. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced its intentions to carry out a manned mission to the Earth satellite the other day.
According to the Kyodo agency, a statement of intent to land a man on the moon was made by Japanese scientists at a conference on the prospects of space research, held under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
It is reported that JAXA also plans to take an active part in the implementation of the US Aerospace Agency's project to build a space station in the lunar orbit.
Recall that the first manned landing on the moon was carried out almost half a century ago - on July 21, 1969. It was carried out by American astronauts as part of the Apollo program.
Astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went to the moon aboard the American spacecraft Apollo 11. They reached the Earth satellite in eight days, after which they installed the United States flag at their landing site, placed a set of scientific instruments, and also collected 21.55 kg of lunar soil samples.