U.S. and Japan teaming to put first Japanese astronaut on moon

Japan and the United States said Monday they want to put the first Japanese astronaut on the moon, as the allies deepen cooperation on space projects.

No non-American has ever touched down on the lunar surface, and Japan has previously said it hopes to achieve a Moon landing by the end of this decade.

President Joe Biden, after his first face-to-face meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, said the nations will work together in the U.S.-led Artemis program to send humans to the Moon, and later to Mars.