The first non-American to walk on the moon — assuming China doesn’t get there first — will be a Japanese astronaut, the U.S. announced yesterday.

The news dashes any remaining hopes that a Canadian would hold that position. However, the first non-American to orbit the moon, on the Artemis 2 mission scheduled for launch next year, will be Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The space agency has agreed to have two JAXA astronauts on future moon missions, in exchange for Japan providing a pressurized rover{ai:summary}<p>The space race heats up as U.S. predicts Japanese astronaut will be first non-American on the moon. #foreignaffairs</p>

First non-American on the moon will be Japanese astronaut, NASA announces

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