Colony Worlds » Japan

In The Future, Your Kids May Be Lunar Cavemen (And Women)

Darnell — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:49:50 +0000

Forget inflatable space bases or mobile lunar outposts embracing the way of the nomad.

Future lunar settlers may end up settling within lunar caves starting with this one discovered by Japan’s lunar satellite SELENE (video courtesy of Spacevidcast, via Space Transport News).

Since radiation will be a major factor for future lunar colonists, establishing outposts within these caves may be the wisest course of action (at least until artificial magnetic fields are perfected).

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Japanese Space Androids To Conquer Lunar Frontier

Darnell — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:12:00 +0000

(Hat Tip: Engadget)

What does an country with moon aspirations do when its rival outnumbers it 10 to 1? Send in the robots of course! It looks as if the Japanese are seriously considering leveraging their silicon friends in order to make lunar life more habitable.

(Times Online) But by 2020, Japan predicts, humanoid robots will be ready to colonise the Moon. [...]

The group’s remit was to draft a five-year plan on the development and exploitation of space – a programme for action that was initially to have included the goal of putting a human Japanese astronaut on the Moon within the next 20 years. In the latest plans, though, robots have inherited the prime position in Japan’s first – and still unconstructed – lunar lander. Experts have been arguing for years that the country’s aim should be to develop humanoid robots to the point where they are capable of everything people can do, and more.

Unless Japan desires to create Cylons (or worse, Terminators) they may want to refocus their efforts on beefing up their own citizens for the lunar stroll.

Although robots would give the land of the rising sun an early advantage against China, it may also devalue their claims of ownership over certain lunar real estate (as a country would have to have a very good reason for injuring a human as opposed to destroying a machine).

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Why Japan Needs To Embrace Human Spaceflight

Darnell — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 06:02:00 +0000

(Hat Tip: Hobby Space)

Earlier this month, the land of the rising sun decided to reverse its robotic space policy and actually embrace the idea of sending flesh and blood to explore the heavens above.

(Mainichi Daily News) The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) wants “to have the technology for independent manned missions,” President Keiji Tachikawa announced last month, in a reversal of Japan’s policy against manned space exploration.

The plan on manned space missions was due to be mentioned in a meeting of an expert panel at the government’s space development strategy headquarters on Friday. While not setting any specific time frame, it does call for a review of current policy on manned space missions as part of plans for the proposed Space Solar Power System (SSPS), and a future manned mission to the moon.

This is a smart (although late) move for Japan, who had to watch as their rival China conducted its first spacewalk (establishing the Asian giant as the dominant space power).

Although Japan has successfully launched a satellite around the Moon (in HD nonetheless), they need to place more emphasis on sending their own citizens into space, especially now that China is intent on building a military space station by the end of next year.

Unlike their silicon beasts that roam the heavens above, a human presence will help the Japanese establish a public claim to outer space (as robots can always be blasted out of the sky without raising too much public outrage).

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Confirmed: Moon Is “As Wet” As A Terrestrian Desert

Darnell — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:25:00 +0000

While this comes to no surprise based on last years analysis, it looks as if Japan’s lunar satellite Selene confirms what many scientists have suspected all along.

(Moon Daily) “The surface can tell us a lot about what’s happening inside the Moon, but until now mapping has been very limited,” C.K Shum, professor of Earth sciences at Ohio State University, said in the February 13 issue of Science.

“For instance, with this new high-resolution map, we can confirm that there is very little water on the Moon today, even deep in the interior. And we can use that information to think about water on other planets, including Mars.” [...]

The hard surface suggests very little water, researchers said. If there were water, even deep within the Moon, the surface would be more flexible than it was shown to be.

Since hauling water from the homeworld would probably increase the cost of a lunar outpost, future settlers may choose to simply import hydrogen from Earth instead (as it is much lighter).

Colonists could “simply” combine the hydrogen with oxygen extracted from lunar rocks, which would enable settlers to quench their thirst (not to mention help create rocket fuel as well).

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Japanese, Indian Space Alliance Is Making China Nervous?

Darnell — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:15:00 +0000

Despite the fact that neither of these countries have launched a human into orbit, both Japan and India have successfully launched satellites around the Moon, respectively.

While China has also launched a lunar satellite (not to mention conducted a space walk), they seem to fear an alliance between the two rival nations, one that seems to benefit the US and put the Asian giant at a disadvantage.

(Asia Times) India and Japan’s agreement in October to expand cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in the field of disaster management, has the raised the ire of a China fearful that the US is masterminding a powerful space alliance between its allies in the region.

All of Asia wants to see improved regional disaster management capabilities, but the growing ties between ISRO and JAXA come just as India and Japan are devising an action plan to advance security cooperation.

“China is concerned about the general effort of the US during the Bush Administration to form a Japanese-Indian alliance to contain China,” said Dr Gregory Kulacki, senior analyst and China project manager at the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

One may wonder why this alliance would make China nervous since they have already created a similar alliance with Russia, as well as offered to train astronauts from other countries.

Even though China probably fears a military alliance between India and Japan, they may also be worried that an alliance between the two Asian giants could knock China from its current status the space super power in the region.

Such an alliance could also convince other space faring democracies (such as the US and most of Europe) to work together, leaving Aristocracies like Russia and China to fend for themselves in the vacuum of space.

Whether or not the US will actively partner with Japan and India has yet to be seen, but either way it looks as if America may have found a way to counter the rising space power by reaching out to China’s rivals.

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Awesome: Japan May Commit $10 Billion Towards Space Elevator

Darnell — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:48:00 +0000

(Hat Tip: Space Travel)

With both the US and China relying upon rockets to secure their solar future beyond the heavens, it looks as if the nation of the rising sun is placing its bets on the space elevator.

(RIA Novosti) Japanese engineers intend to build an elevator to deliver cargo into space. Japanese authorities are prepared to allocate $10 billion for the project.

The space elevator is expected to cut the cost of delivering cargo into space and is considered one of the most ambitious projects of the 21st century. The Japanese plan to unveil a schedule for the elevator’s assembly and commissioning this November.

While the space elevator has its share of engineering problems, its successful construction would pretty much guarentee Japan’s space dominance over its rivals, as Japan would be able to launch cargo at much lower prices than either China or the US could via rockets.

A space elevator would enable Japan to establish large colonies fairly quickly on both the Moon and Mars–not to mention help the nation generate billions of Yen by renting it out to half the planet.

Note: The first Japanese Space Elevator conference is coming up, so be sure to check out the Space Elevator Blog for highlights from Tokyo!

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Video: Earthrise In HD

Darnell — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:45:00 +0000

(Hat Tip: Moon Today)

To some people, space is a boring location, lacking beaches, liquid water and forests that often make Earth an ideal place to live.

But as Japan’s SELENE satellite goes to show, its the view that attracts people to the cosmos (something FedEx admitted last year).

Note: Click on the image above to watch.

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Lunar Revelation Via Japanese Maps

Darnell — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:25:00 +0000

(Image: Detailed map of the moon, Credit: JAXA)

While NASA and other space agencies are busy planning on how to land people on the moon, Japan is busy mapping the lunar in extreme detail using its SELENE satellite (which is currently orbiting the Moon).

(Universe Today) The Japanese SELENE lunar orbiter has returned some of the most detailed maps of the Moon to date. The new collection of high-definition maps includes topological data and mineral location. Critically, the locations of uranium, thorium and potassium have been mapped, essential for mission planners when considering the future of manned settlements on the Moon. Seeing the lunar relief mapped to such fine detail makes for an impressive sight. So far six million data points have been collected and there’s more to come. [...]

According to the JAXA press release, these new maps are ten-times more accurate than previous maps. Using the laser altimeter (LALT) instrument, 3D data of the shapes and altitudes of surface features are promising to give the most advanced relief mapping capabilities ever performed on a planetary body other than the Earth.

Hopefully more uranium will be discovered, as it would allow colonists to construct settlements virtually anywhere upon the moon’s surface without the need for heavy dependence upon regenerative fuel cells or solar power.

Energy aside, these maps would also help future colonists determine which would be the best locations for settlement, not to mention whether or not building a railroad would be practical upon that dusty world.

While Japan has yet to launch any humans into space, they may be able to barter with NASA for a future trip, especially if they locate any more valuable resources (such as helium-3).

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Japan: We Will Build A Solar Powered Satellite By 2030

Darnell — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:18:00 +0000

(Hat Tip: Posthuman Blues)

Ironically while it seems half the planet is in a space race to either beat their neighbors to the stars, it looks as if Japan is busy figuring out a way to harness the power of one.

(Pink Tentacle) JAXA, which plans to have a Space Solar Power System (SSPS) up and running by 2030, envisions a system consisting of giant solar collectors in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. The satellites convert sunlight into powerful microwave (or laser) beams that are aimed at receiving stations on Earth, where they are converted into electricity.

On February 20, JAXA will take a step closer to the goal when they begin testing a microwave power transmission system designed to beam the power from the satellites to Earth. In a series of experiments to be conducted at the Taiki Multi-Purpose Aerospace Park in Hokkaido, the researchers will use a 2.4-meter-diameter transmission antenna to send a microwave beam over 50 meters to a rectenna (rectifying antenna) that converts the microwave energy into electricity and powers a household heater. The researchers expect these initial tests to provide valuable engineering data that will pave the way for JAXA to build larger, more powerful systems.

If Japan is successful in their tests, they will not need to worry about mining the moon for Helium-3 later on down the road.

Although they have yet to put a human into space, Japan may gain a lead later on in the space race by focusing their attention upon harnessing the energy from above.

If successful, Japan could not only become energy independent, but sell their technology to not only present Earth governments, but future lunar and Martian colonies as well.

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Japan’s Lunar Orbiter Dances Around The Moon

Darnell — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:20:00 +0000

(Image Credit: JAXA)

The land of the rising sun has a new accomplishment to boast about. Having successfully launched its satellite from Earth to the moon, SELENE now orbits this lunar world in an attempt to better understand Earth’s nearest neighbor.

(Moon Daily) “The satellite successfully entered the moon’s orbit. We are glad that we achieved one of the big challenges in this mission,” said Tatsuo Oshima, a spokesman from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). [...]

Once it gets close to the moon it will start observation of land features and study gravitational fields, the JAXA spokesman said.

“Our next challenge is a successful launch of observation activities with cameras and radars functioning normally,” he said.

Hopefully Japan’s SELENE satellite will help the island nation (as well as the world) locate fertile grounds for habitation on the Moon. Although they have yet to launch one of their own in space, Japan does have plans to establish a lunar colony in 2030.