  Q. What do you think about Japan's problems in space activity?  I don't think I know enough to comment about Japan's problems. My impression from my meetings here is that Japan has not decided which direction to go in. One example was that a few years ago Japan said that they were interested only in robotic exploration of the moon, and not sending humans there. And the recent JAXA Vision 2025 says there are reasons to send humans to the moon.The country wants economic reasons for going to space, but at the same time these great exploration ventures such as Hayabusa and Selene are done not for immediate economic gain, but more for the benefit of the entire population. And I think Japan is now trying to find ways to capitalize on those benefits, in the most positive way, for its citizens. That's very good. My only advice to JAXA would probably be to keep doing the great job that they are trying to do, and keep thinking of innovative ways involve the public in those missions of exploration, which stimulate the public's imagination and intellectual curiosity. My hope is to continue these efforts of recent years to involve the public. We now have an organization called the Planetary Society of Japan. We want to work closely with JAXA to bring the results of its space missions to the public - to go directly to the public; to build education programs, student involvement programs, inspirational stories of space exploration. For example, I think Hayabusa would make a wonderful movie - a feature film about the adventures at an asteroid, not the adventures of a person, but the adventures of a spacecraft. I think Japan needs to pay more attention to public involvement in space exploration. In the past, Japan didn't do that. Years ago, Japan said the public wasn't important, only the scientific elite were important. But I think that attitude has changed now, and we'll see more public involvement. But the other advice I have is to think strongly about space missions like Hayabusa and Mars Exploration Rover - great discoveries on other worlds, which have gotten the public excited. It's time to do a little more of that. Q. Hayabusa cost $115-million, and Stardust cost $145-million. What do you think about the fact that Hayabusa cost even less than Stardust, even though Stardust was considered a low-cost mission at NASA? What the Japanese have done in Hayabusa, and in their other space-science missions, has been superbly rewarding. I think the Japanese should do more of these $115-million missions. But it's very hard for me to compare costs in different countries, because it always comes down to people, and you have to be familiar with the economics of other countries. It's hard for me to judge efficiency across national borders. I can say that it's remarkable that they've been able to do the mission on such a low budget. This is one of the things that we've admired. But I think we have to be careful and understand that as ambitions grow, the costs will grow. The Mars Exploration Rovers are well over a billion dollars, but they're beyond the capability of anything that was done at Mars 20 years ago, which were more simple orbiters, and the simple lander. And I think the return that Japan is now receiving from Hayabusa, and hopefully in the future from Selene, the lunar mission, will encourage the country to put a little more money into space exploration.  Q. What do you think of Japan's way of doing international cooperation?
I think we're at a threshold where Hayabusa has established Japan as a major player in planetary exploration. This is a great opportunity for Japan. Perhaps at this stage Japan should build a new relationship with the United States. After Hayabusa, Japan should feel confident that it can be a player alongside other countries. So perhaps they should think about some new missions on which to collaborate with other countries. I think this is an opportunity to make some new decisions and start looking at things a little differently. Q. What is the significance of international cooperation in scientific exploration projects? The great ventures that are required to explore the planets - bringing back a sample from Mars, setting up a lunar base or practice station for sending humans back to the moon and onto Mars - these are projects that require international cooperation. They require it for two reasons. One, financially, it's just too expensive for any one nation to do alone. But I think even more important, they require it for public support. The public's view of going to other worlds is, I think, that it's Earth that goes to other worlds. And, if the countries don't work together, they could actually lose a lot of the energy, and a lot of the support that they have, in addition to wasting money by not cooperating with each other. |
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