Photo/Illutration Mission control for the Artemis moon exploration program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Under the U.S.-led Artemis program, in which Japan is participating, the launch of the first uncrewed moon-orbiting mission is drawing near.

Half a century since the Apollo missions, the program envisions the eventual establishment of a permanent base camp on the lunar surface.

Is the human race finally going to inhabit the moon?

“The days of nations competing to be the first to send their astronauts to outer space are over,” said Takuya Ohno, 54, a specially appointed associate professor at Kyoto University’s SIC Human Spaceology Center. “Today, the mainstay of research is to find out what humans need for communal living.”

Ohno is also an employee of Kajima Corp., a leading construction company, where he has been researching architecture suited for lunar living.

Water and oxygen can be transported to the moon, but gravity poses a tough problem.

“Since the moon’s gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth’s, human bones become brittle, muscles weaken and blood components decrease,” Ohno explained.

Creating an environment where the gravity is similar to the Earth’s is the only way to ensure health.

The solution Ohno conceived was “Lunar Glass,” a massive structure shaped like an upside-down cone. Rotating it slowly generates centrifugal force, which makes up for gravital deficiency.

“A bucket of water does not spill if the bucket is twirled, and that’s the principle behind my artificial gravity facility,” he said.

While interviewing him, I asked to see a scaled-down model. To my layman’s eyes, it looked like a tall vase or a glass for chilled sake.

In an artist’s rendition of the completed facility, people are singing, chatting or gazing at the far-away Earth in a space that is without top or bottom--a veritable sci-fi movie scene.

China is keenly interested in lunar living, and the United Arab Emirates has declared it will build a city to accommodate 600,000 people not on the moon, but on Mars.

Fantasizing about the day my passport is stamped “Arrived on the moon,” I poured chilled sake into my glass.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 24

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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