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Added on the 18/09/2018 03:38:45 - Copyright : AFP EN
A Japanese person will be the first non-American to walk on the Moon, US President Joe Biden announces during a state visit by Japan's prime minister. US-Japan "ties stretch up to the Moon where two Japanese astronauts will join future American missions, and one will become the first non-American ever to land on the Moon," Biden says during a press conference at the White House. SOUNDBITE
SpaceX's 'Starship' rocket, the largest ever built, takes off from the space company's Texas launch site. CEO Elon Musk hopes the ship will one day colonize Mars and NASA is awaiting a modified version to land humans on the Moon. The first test in April ended in a spectacular explosion over the Gulf of Mexico. IMAGES
A Soyuz MS-20 capsule undocks from the International Space Station, with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano onboard, after a 12-day mission. IMAGES
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, and his assistant Yozo Hirano arrive at the International Space Station, marking Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States. A NASA livefeed shows the hatch of the Soyuz MS-20 capsule open at 1611 GMT, showing Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin entering the ISS, followed by Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano. IMAGES
A Russian spacecraft carrying a Japanese billionaire docks with the International Space Station, marking the country's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their journey aboard the three-person Soyuz spacecraft piloted by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin took just over six hours, capping a banner year that many have seen as a turning point for private space travel. IMAGES
A Russian rocket carrying Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, his production assistant Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin blasts off from the Baikonur cosmodrome towards the International Space Station. IMAGES