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Human Space Exploration: Why Do Japanese Go to Space?

In 2012, Japan celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first spaceflight by a Japanese astronaut, Mamoru Mohri. The previous year, 2011, was the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight, by the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.JAXA held two meetings in Japan to celebrate these events, ?The First International Space Exploration Symposium ? Space Exploration for Humanity and the Future? and ?The JAXA Astronauts 20th Anniversary Symposium ? Japanese Astronauts Discuss 20 Years of Progress and Future Prospects.?At these symposiums, lively panel discussions were held on the topic of human space exploration. Here are the highlights.

The JAXA Astronauts 20th Anniversary Symposium ? Japanese Astronauts Discuss 20 Years of Progress and Future Prospects ?

The First International Space Exploration SymposiumSpace Exploration for Humanity and the Future

The completion of the International Space Station has enabled humans to stay in near-Earth space for long periods of time. Now, ideas for the next steps and destinations in human space exploration are being discussed worldwide. The Third International Conference on Exploration ? High-level International Space Exploration Platform took place in Italy in November 2011. The Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX2012) took place in the United States in May 2012.JAXA hosted the First International Space Exploration Symposium in Japan ? Space Exploration for Humanity and the Future, to foster understanding and thinking about next steps in future human space exploration.

Panel Discussion 1: The Significance of Human Space Exploration

Panel Discussion 2: Challenge to Human Space Exploration