For the first time since 1972, an astronaut is expected to set foot on the Moon — and for the first time in history, that astronaut isn't an American. As reported by USA Today, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in a Wednesday press conference that the widely international team behind the Artemis lunar landing mission will see Japanese astronauts take a historic step on the surface of our nearest celestial neighbor.
Emphasizing the two nations' long-held ties in science and education, Biden told reporters "Those ties stretch up to the Moon, where two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions, and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the moon.”
