# Japan Looks at Spending $57 Billion on Space **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369 "2005-03-01T01:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/1 "2005-03-01T01:16:07Z")
[To send men to the Moon.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7046936/) > [@](#): > > Japan plans to start building a manned base on the moon and a space shuttle within the next 20 years, a newspaper report said Monday. Japan’s space agency, JAXA, is drawing up plans to develop a robot to conduct probes on the moon by 2015, then begin constructing a solar-powered research base on the moon and design a reusable piloted space vessel like the U.S. space shuttle by 2025, the Mainichi Shimbun said. “There _is_ intelligent life in Tokyo.” Robert A. Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/2 "2005-03-01T02:00:46Z")
Good for them! Maybe having the Japanese showing us up will get our own space program out of mothballs. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/3 "2005-03-01T13:41:03Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > Good for them! Maybe having the Japanese showing us up will get our own space program out of mothballs. How can we? With “Globalization” of our economy (read “Povertization-For-Non-Corporations”), & Suppy-Side economics, the US will not have the dough to explore space in a few years. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/4 "2005-03-01T14:05:33Z")
Cool. When their space ship launches, I imagine “Gamera” music will be playing in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/5 "2005-03-01T15:16:44Z")
Sounds about as ambitious, and likely, as all of the similar US Gov/NASA plans & announcements over the years. Still, it would be pretty cool if they actually went ahead and did it! _Hums the Star Blazers theme song_ ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japan-looks-at-spending-57-billion-on-space/292369/6 "2005-03-01T17:07:17Z")
It’s just a “vision” - wishful thinking on the part of JAXA. There’s no indication that the government is willing to fund this program.