Tokyo: Japan has revealed ambitious plans to put an astronaut on the Moon around 2030 in new proposals from the country’s space agency. This is the first time the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has said it aims to send an astronaut beyond the International Space Station, an agency spokeswoman told AFP on Friday. In November, China’s Shenzhou-11 spacecraft returned to Earth, bringing home two astronauts from the rising power’s longest-ever orbital mission. NASA and other global space agencies are working hard on sending astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. In March, the US Congress passed a bill—signed by President Donald Trump—directing NASA to send a manned mission to Mars in 2033.

Source: Mint June 30, 2017 12:00 UTC