US, Japan Announce Plans to Send Japanese Astronaut to Moon (1)

Japanese astronauts will join future NASA lunar missions, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, a move meant to signal more robust economic and defense ties between the two nations.

In a news conference at the White House alongside Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said that two Japanese astronauts will join future NASA lunar missions, “and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon.”

The pledge marks Washington’s latest move to use the space program to court friendly nations and compete with China in a race to the moon.

The astronaut from Japan will take part ...