According to leading national newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun this week, the Japanese government is planning on investing $2.2 billion over the next 10 years on lunar research.
Phase 1 of the plan will see a mobile robot being sent to the moon by 2015, which will send video images of the surface as well as conducting seismographic research on the Moon's composition. The following 5 years will see a research centre (producing its own electricity) being established on the Moon's south pole to study the surface within a 100km radius, with some of the samples being sent back to Earth for further evaluation.
Despite the USA's abandonment of any future lunar based activities, Japan intends to go full speed ahead as it tries to secure its position on the Moon before China and India complete their programs.
Phase 1 of the plan will see a mobile robot being sent to the moon by 2015, which will send video images of the surface as well as conducting seismographic research on the Moon's composition. The following 5 years will see a research centre (producing its own electricity) being established on the Moon's south pole to study the surface within a 100km radius, with some of the samples being sent back to Earth for further evaluation.
Despite the USA's abandonment of any future lunar based activities, Japan intends to go full speed ahead as it tries to secure its position on the Moon before China and India complete their programs.
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