Japan Plans a Moonbase by 2030

Aglassis writes "The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced at a conference that they are planning to build a Moonbase by 2030. Since JAXA doesn't currently have a 100 ton-class heavy lift rocket or a human transportation system perhaps now is a good time for JAXA to join in with NASA on the Project Constellation rocket program."

Comments

Hopefully this will put to rest allegations...

[Rotten168]

that the US faked the moon landings! :)

Remember the good old days?

[Tackhead]

When our parents saw the first Americans land on the moon, they had no idea they'd also seen the last.

You go, Japan. Someone's gotta do it, and ever since we rejected science for religion, all your base are no longer belong to US.

Re:Remember the good old days?

[mrxak]

Ah good, the ol' War on Science myth. Just because a handful of prominent individuals don't seem to understand science doesn't mean that the country has rejected it. The reason we've been so slow at getting back to the Moon was because people stopped watching the Apollo landings and there were other more pressing concerns in the Cold War. Throw in a little Space Shuttle and ISS, and you have yourself bogged down in Earth orbit for a while. We've made tremendous advancements in the science of space since the moon landings- take a look at Hubble, the Mars robots, and lot of probes sent far out into the solar system. Sure, humans haven't been getting out there, but we'll get back to the Moon, and beyond, now that the shuttle fleet is getting close to retirement.

Re:Remember the good old days?

[The Great Pretender]

I seem to recall Bush always being ridiculed, for everything

Re:Road Construction

[hcob$]

Under the plan, astronauts will be sent to the Moon around 2020 to start construction of the base that will be completed by 2030

This reminds me of the timeframes set out by the state construction workers on our highways.

Actually, those are very accurate timelines that are presented for highway projects. Believe it or not, Civil Engineers actually have to plan that far out.

Japan will probably do it with Europe and Russia

[YA_Python_dev]

Since JAXA doesn't currently have a 100 ton-class heavy lift rocket or a human transportation system perhaps now is a good time for JAXA to join in with NASA on the Project Constellation rocket program.

You don't need a 100 ton rocket to go to the moon and NASA has already stated that the Constellation is an US-only project. What Japan will probably do is joining Europe and Russia on the ACTS (Advanced Crew Transportation System), that will be launched using existing Ariane 5 or similar rockets (20-25 ton to LEO, depending on the orbit inclination).

What a difference 44 years makes!

[pashdown]

1962 - "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

2006 - "Its too hard and too expensive."

JAXA?

[gumpish]

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Uhm... doesn't Exploration start with the letter "E"?

Re:Seems like the wrong choice for a permanent bas

[DerekLyons]

Why not choose Mars instead?

Once you realize that every paragraph of your post is handwaving nonsense - you'll understand why.