COLORADO
SPRINGS, Colorado - Japan is building upon its past successes in space to forge
a range of initiatives, from disaster warning systems, probes to Mercury, Venus
and Jupiter, as well as conduct an aggressive lunar exploration campaign.
Kaoru
Mamiya, Vice President, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) outlined his
country's long-term space plans, speaking here at the 23rd National Space
Symposium produced by the Space Foundation.
Mamiya
detailed recent major accomplishments, such as last year's launch
of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite called Daichi - meaning Terra. "It
is operating smoothly and producing significant amounts of observing data," he
said.
Other
recent satellite launches spotlighted by Mamiya included a satellite for
weather forecasting and air traffic control; Japan's first infrared imaging
satellite, Akari, that has already completed its first scan of the entire sky,
as well as Hinode - a solar
physics spacecraft undertaken cooperatively with the United States, Europe,
and the United Kingdom.
Disaster management
A
particular focus of JAXA is developing a disaster management support system.
Mamiya
pointed out that Earth is a place of catastrophic natural events that occur
almost every day, be it wild fires, floods or other disasters, that lead to the
loss of human life and property.
"To
tackle this problem for our civilization is to use space technologies," Mamiya
observed. A JAXA initiative in this regard is Sentinel Asia, a rapid response
system using satellite data and images.
Sentinel
Asia involves 19 nations and 52 establishments to establish a disaster
management system that is user-friendly to help combat natural disaster, Mamiya
added.
Moon probe: summer sendoff
In
the area of space exploration, Mamiya said that JAXA is drawing from a lineage
of solar system probe launches starting back in 1985. Upcoming is the highly anticipated
liftoff of Selene - a huge, 3-ton spacecraft designed to orbit the Moon.
"Selene
is the largest and most sophisticated lunar mission since Apollo," Mamiya
reported, and is being readied for sendoff this summer. Orbiting the Moon for a
nominal 10 months, Selene is loaded with science gear "which should enrich our
knowledge about the origin and evolution of the Moon."
Mamiya
said that JAXA space planners are also working on a Selene 2 for 2012 and a
Selene X in 2017.
JAXA's
road map in space exploration also includes the Planet C mission to Venus in
2010; a Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return in 2011, a Mercury orbiter in 2013;
and dispatching a probe to Jupiter.
Common frontier
"Space
is a common frontier for humanity," Mamiya explained, and "international
cooperation is essential." In this regard, JAXA is prepared to be a major
player in the replanting of human footprints on the Moon.
Mamiya
said that there is worldwide interest in the Moon. Last month in Kyoto, he
said, a multi-nation workshop was held to help hammer out a global exploration
strategy for future lunar exploration.
"We
will make a significant contribution to the international lunar architecture,"
Mamiya added, activity that he envisions will lead to placing Japanese
astronauts on the lunar surface in collaboration with other space partners.
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