Japan's space lab Kibo raises hope, but costs may not be justified
(From The Japan Times March 14 issue)

宇宙実験棟「きぼう」はコストに見合うか？

Japanese astronaut Mr. Takao Doi, together with six other crew members, was launched into space March 11 aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the 53-year-old astronaut's second space mission, the first being in November-December 1997. We wish him success.

The shuttle crew will deliver a stowage module for Japan's space laboratory Kibo and a new robotic arm developed by Canada to the International Space Station.

The big question is whether Japan's investment in the ISS project is worthwhile. Japan started to develop the Kibo laboratory some 20 years ago and spent some ¥680 billion through March 2007 on the Kibo project. Japan's total investment in the ISS project is expected to eventually reach ¥1 trillion. The launch of the Kibo laboratory into outer space is about 10 years behind schedule, mainly because of space shuttle-related accidents.

Experiments to be carried out in Kibo will include those to gauge how strong radioactive rays in outer space affect animal environments where gravity is weak, and how a liquid turns into a crystal in outer space. But one wonders whether an expensive facility is necessary for such experiments. It is said that results from manned experiments in outer space often fail to justify the money spent on them.

Another problem is that NASA's space shuttles are scheduled to be retired in 2010 and the United States has no definite plan as to what to do with the ISS project after 2015. Japan is developing an unmanned space transport. But it should reflect on the fact that it is pushing the Kibo project without first carefully considering what kinds of experiments are needed.

日本人宇宙飛行士の土井隆雄さんらを乗せた米スペースシャトル「エンデバー」が11日に打ち上げられた。乗組員は日本の宇宙実験棟「きぼう」の保管室設置などを国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）で行う。

大きな疑問は、ISS計画への日本の投資が割に合うかどうかだ。日本はきぼうの開発に20年かけており、ISSへの投資は、最終的には1兆円に及ぶと見られている。

きぼうの実験は、宇宙で動物が放射線にどんな影響を受けるかなどだが、巨費のかかる施設を作る必要があるのだろうか。また、NASAは2010年でシャトル打ち上げを打ち切る予定であり、2015年以降のISSの運営計画は定かでない。どんな実験が必要かの慎重な検討なくきぼうの計画は進められている。