NHK reported on Wednesday on a news conference held by NASA Administrator Bridenstine. He explained that the purpose of his current visit is to urge Japan to join the Lunar Platform Orbiting Gateway project. The NASA official said that with bilateral cooperation, American and Japanese astronauts will be able to conduct joint activities on the moon, but the Japanese government needs to understand that participation in the project will be costly. NHK reported that JAXA President Yamakawa, who participated in the news conference from Tanegashima Space Center via Internet hookup, announced that NASA is considering participating in JAXA’s plan to land an unmanned probe on the moon and in Japan and India’s joint unmanned exploration of the lunar south pole. Bridenstine lauded Japan’s excellent capability in space exploration and said he expects Japan to continue to make outstanding contributions.