News Japan's lunar program gets a boost: two astronauts added

Yoneda, who served as a surgeon at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, became the youngest astronaut to be approved by the agency, while Suwa, a former disaster prevention specialist at the World Bank, became the eldest astronaut at the time of certification. With the two seen as potential candidates to participate in NASA's lunar exploration program known as Artemis, Yoneda said, "I don't know who will be picked, but I am thinking about what is necessary as a team." As part of the Artemis program, the United States aims to return humans to the Moon in 2026, more than half a century since the last Apollo mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It also includes sending the first woman and person of colour to the Moon. The United States has agreed to allocate two astronaut flight opportunities to the lunar surface for Japan on future Artemis missions. JAXA now has seven astronauts who could be picked for the slots.

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