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."

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.

Good for them

[Anonymous Coward]

NASA's astronauts haven't done anything interesting or useful for decades.
All the action in the US space program is with the unmanned probes.

Perhaps Japan will put some excitement back into manned spaceflight.

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: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) [wikipedia.org], that will be launched using existing Ariane 5 or similar rockets (20-25 ton to LEO, depending on the orbit inclination).

Re:Remember the good old days?

[The Great Pretender]

I seem to recall Bush always being ridiculed, for everything

Re:The Japanese prohibited from engaging in warfre

[Denial93]

China can't conquer anything without defeating both the US and Russia first. And even if they could, Japan wouldn't be a sensible target - too difficult to convince of cooperation, and too useful in its current state as a market. Mongolia, Nepal and India with their traditional Maoist opposition groups would be the obvious targets if China was aggressive. But it isn't.

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.

Re:But are they sending any sailors there?

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Umm....no? I'm not a "rocket scientist," but I am an engineer who specializes in technology development at NASA...and, in fact, we don't have a lot of the technologies that we used to have. .....
Bottom line is that we do not have the technologies needed for a lunar base, and it will cost a LOT of money and take quite a lot of time to develop them.

Not to sound like a troll, but if this is the attitude at NASA, I'll be surprised if you manage to launch the next space shuttle. If you said something like that in the sixties, you'd have probably been fired.

They sent men to the moon in the sixties. It should be a matter of simplicity to do it today. The space shuttle is so big it can practically carry a moon landing system into orbit for assembly in one or two missions. Robotics has progressed to an extent where a radio controlled assembly of a base is feasable. Fluid dynamics and mathematical modelling have all advanced so far in the last ten years alone that it's now possible for an undergraduate student to model scenarios and design components on his desktop PC. Materials science has come far enough that spacecraft can be built better, stronger, faster and cheaper that in the sixties.

If your attitude is indicative of the general atmosphere at NASA then there is no american space program. You badly need better management.

Re:Good for them

[Overzeetop]

And isn't it curious that the good science is coming from the lesser funded of the two "halves".

Re:The Japanese prohibited from engaging in warfre

[Rei]

You do realize that the SDF has one of the world's highest annual military budgets, right?

Re:What a difference 44 years makes!

[drinkypoo]

Where's the evil empire when you need it?

In the 1960s it was a space race, the goal was to get high (so to speak) because it gave military superiority.

In this decade it will be nanotechnology. The goal will be to get small because it gives military superiority.

Or at least, it will be nanotechnology if something like that happens again.