On Wednesday evening NHK carried online a report on its interview with NASA Chief Scientist Dr. James Green in which he expressed hope that NASA’s future relationship with China, India, and other newly emerging nations that are implementing their own space programs will not be competitive. He said he hopes that it will be possible to deepen cooperation with these nations in future projects to explore the Moon and Mars. Dr. Green also explained that the purpose of NASA’s plan to build the new Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is to create a lunar space station to facilitate scientific research further out in space. He noted that Japan will be responsible for building the habitation module for the new space station, adding that Japan is an “important partner” in international space development and it is “wonderful” to be able to continue the cooperative relationship. Dr. Green is currently visiting Japan to participate in an event marking the 50th anniversary of the first human lunar landing.