Japan Taps Doctor and Banker to Be Astronauts in Race to Moon
- Japan’s astronauts’ average age is 52, much higher than NASA’s
- Japanese billionaire and Tokyo’s ispace also have lunar plans
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Japan has tapped a doctor and a banker to become its first new astronauts in more than a decade, a critical step in the nation’s ambitions to join the US, China and others in the race to send people back to the moon.
Ayu Yoneda, 28, is a doctor for the Red Cross and Makoto Suwa, 46, is a senior employee for the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, selected the pair from more than 4,100 applications received since last April, it said Tuesday.