News of an exciting partnership between two great allies:

[The U.S. and Japan] will announce that a Japanese astronaut will become the first non-American on a NASA mission to the moon. ...

Space exploration is [an] important area of cooperation for the two countries. Landing a Japanese astronaut on the moon would be a major achievement; no other country besides the United States has done so.

The lunar surface has been absent of all life since Apollo 17 astronauts departed it in 1972:

Returning there will be a big win for humanity, and a good sign of Japanese-American relations. And the joint effort already looks strong:

The two leaders will also announce that Toyota will build the next NASA lunar rover, which would feature a pressurized cabin to allow astronauts to shed their spacesuits inside the vehicle.

Japan has already established its lunar bona fides: The country is among just five that have sent a craft to the lunar surface and achieved a "soft lunar landing," a necessity for any craft containing humans.

All of this is taking place during a very exciting period for space exploration as NASA continues planning for a dedicated moon base, or possibly several.

China, meanwhile, "plans to land a taikonaut on the moon by 2030," and you better bet that China's impending rise is the reason Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in DC this week for a summit on Pacific military alliances.

Let's beat the ChiComs there and get it done first (again), folks!

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