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.