JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

What humans and robots can do is rapidly changing. As technology continues to advance, humans need to stick to things that require imagination and leave other jobs to robots. In the world of science, one discovery leads to another. To make these leaps from one discovery to the next, we need to use our imagination - which is what makes us distinct.

When I saw Earth from space, I was extremely moved by man's imaginative power. How could Newton and Einstein understand the movement of planets and universal gravitation without going to space?
But science is not the only evidence of this kind of amazing imaginative power. In Japan's Record of Ancient Matters (compiled by imperial command and presented to Emperor Genmei in 712), there is a story that the Japanese Archipelago came into being after a god stirred the Earth with a writing brush and drops fell down from the brush, becoming islands. If you look at the Japanese islands from space, they do look like drops that fell from a brush. It is amazing that someone who had never seen the islands from above was able to create that kind of story. Imagination makes these things possible. I believe it inspires the romantic side of many people, promoting science and art.

In the fields of space exploration, global exploration, and the exploration of the inner Earth, we need to have a cooperative relationship between humans and machines, in which one plus one makes more than two.

I think the biggest question will be whether or not Mars can be a site for long-term human activity. We should take time to consider this. For example, can we build a greenhouse and grow food on Mars? Can we build a useful building on Mars? Can a person survive on his own for a long time? We need to do all of this research.

If we are ever to establish colonies in space, we have to learn to adapt to the environment. So from a long-term perspective, it is very important to see if we can adapt to life on Mars. These are the kinds of questions that motivate us to explore Mars.

We have to spend money carefully and consider whether there is any future for humans on Mars. Venus or Jupiter's Europa are difficult for reasons such as heat and strong radiation, and of course we tried the moon, but it was hard. The only possibility in the solar system is Mars. In this respect, Mars is very important. It is our only opportunity in the future.

Some years ago, Mr. Sean O'Keefe, the Administrator of NASA, said, "Mars isn't a place we'll go to in the future, but it's a place that makes us consider how to get there." I think he is right. If we saw the International Space Station as our final goal, there would be no new frontiers left. What I mean by frontier is the study of the kind of challenges that we have to overcome to go beyond Earth's orbit and extend our existence to the moon and Mars. This is scientifically, technologically and financially challenging.

I understand that NASA began studying how to send humans to the moon in the 1940s, before it sent humans into space in the 1960s. And in the late '60s, it sent astronauts to the moon. This means that going to Mars may sound like a wild dream today, but it is something we need to consider seriously. Through this process, I expect we will get lots of derivative knowledge and technology. Nothing is impossible.