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Daniel Andrews, project manager for NASA\u2019s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) (left), stands next to a full-scale model of the rover alongside visitors from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): Dr. Hitoshi Kuninaka, Vice President of JAXA and Director General of JAXA\u2019s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS); Nobuhiro Takahashi of the ISAS Management and Integration Department; and Shintaro Chofuku, a JAXA engineer on detail to NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley (right), during a visit to Ames on Feb. 1, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following briefings about both agencies\u2019 space science and spaceflight missions, Kuninaka toured several Ames facilities supporting NASA and JAXA\u2019s exploration of the solar system. The heat shield for JAXA\u2019s Hayabusa2 mission, which delivered a sample of an asteroid to Earth in 2020, was tested in the center\u2019s arc jet facility, and a portion of that sample is now being studied by Ames researchers.\u00a0An upcoming JAXA mission to study the two moons of Mars, called Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), was also tested in the arc jet.<\/p>\n
Present and future exploration of the Moon was a focus of the day, including a stop at Ames\u2019 Lunar Imaging Lab following the VIPER briefing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
VIPER will be delivered to Mons Mouton near the Moon\u2019s South Pole in late 2024 to map water and other potential resources and explore the characteristics of the lunar environment where NASA plans to send future astronauts as part of the Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n
Last month, JAXA\u2019s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) arrived on the lunar surface, after reaching its targeted landing site with great accuracy. The mission aimed to demonstrate accurate lunar landing techniques by a small explorer, to help accelerate study of the Moon and planets using lighter exploration systems.<\/p>\n
Japan is a significant partner for NASA and for Ames, specifically,\u201d said Center Director Eugene Tu. \u201cFrom testing with our teams the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft\u202fdesign to JAXA\u2019s contributions to Artemis and Gateway, where astronauts on future lunar missions will stay, our work together runs broad and deep. We look forward to many more fruitful collaborations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n