A group of experts met for the first time Tuesday to discuss how Japan should explore the moon following the formulation in June of a national space development project that stated the country's ambition to send its first manned moon probe.
A private panel set up under Seiko Noda, state minister for science and technology policy, and food safety, plans to consider how Japan can bring moon exploration to realization. It plans to present a report around next June.
The government's space development project states that Japan would explore the moon around 2020 with a two-legged robot, with plans to explore the moon in earnest later involving both man and robots.
In Tuesday's meeting, members of the panel, chaired by Katsuhiko Shirai, president of Waseda University, were briefed by government officials on space projects under way in other countries, including China and the United States.
"I want to have full discussions about why we should engage in manned activities," panel member Hirotoshi Kubota, a professor of space engineering at Teikyo University, told the meeting.
Toshiki Hayama, another panelist and executive of Toyota Motor Corp., said, "I want to think about how Japan can realize moon exploration in an overwhelmingly cheap and efficient way to demonstrate its strong points."