NEWS

2024.4.11

NASA and Japanese Government sign the Implementing Arrangement concerning Lunar Surface Exploration using the Pressurized Rover

　　On April 10 (April 9 in US), 2024, the “Implementing Arrangement between the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America concerning Lunar Surface Exploration using the Pressurized Rover” was signed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), Masahito Moriyama.

2024.4.4

Japanese Instrument Selected as one of the First Lunar Instruments for Artemis Crewed Mission

　　On March 26, 2024, NASA announced the selection of three instruments to be deployed on the lunar surface by astronauts during the first Artemis crewed mission. The Lunar Dielectric Analyzer (LDA) proposed by a team led by the University of Tokyo was selected as one of the first three instruments to be deployed on the Moon.

2024.3.13

IDEFIX rover handover complete and ready for MMX and the Martian moons

　　On March 7, 2024, the official handover to JAXA of the rover “IDEFIX” was completed in Kamakura, Japan. IDEFIX was developed by CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies) and DLR (German Aerospace Center) and will be installed on the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission spacecraft.