Robots in space the next frontier

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Robots in space the next frontier

04/19/2005
By ISAO ISHIDA, The Asahi Shimbun

JAXA envisages robots digging for resources on the moon.

Within two decades, a Japanese space shuttle will blast off with astronauts working alongside robots to make Japan a brand name in space.

That's the plan the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) pitched to the technology ministry's Space Activities Commission this month.

The JAXA long-range vision includes astronauts using robots to probe for resources, conduct research and beam lectures back to Earth-bound students. They would travel in a reusable space vehicle.

To realize this dream, huge technical and budgetary hurdles will need to be overcome.

First, JAXA must convince the government bean counters that the blueprint space project will be worth the estimated 250 billion yen to 280 billion yen annually over the next decade.

Today, the agency operates on an annual budget of 180 billion yen. The number of space industry workers has also fallen in recent years, from about 10,000 in fiscal 1995, to around 6,000 in fiscal 2003.

JAXA also has to convince a skeptical public to get on board. It hopes to pitch the plan at as many event venues as possible.

The agency's manned space exploration project is divided into phases and builds on technology gained from projects now on the drawing board.

An unmanned orbital transfer vehicle called the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), now in development, is set to launch in fiscal 2008. It will deliver materials to the International Space Station.

JAXA hopes to make the most of Japan's advanced robotic and artificial intelligence technology already developed.

In space, man and robot will work together, giving the programs a ``distinctively Japanese trademark,'' says a JAXA official. Deep probes for natural resources on the moon or space-beamed science lectures are part of the vision.

JAXA's vision comes as an embodiment of a basic space development and utilization strategy that the Cabinet Office's Council for Science and Technology Policy released in September. The strategy said Japan should ``prepare for independent human space exploration in 20 to 30 years.''

Near-Earth space travel is on the horizon. JAXA is working on hypersonic transport (HST) technology, using clean-burning liquid hydrogen fuel, that would cut the 10-hour flight between Tokyo and Los Angeles to just two hours.(IHT/Asahi: April 19,2005)



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