Japanese interest in space reignited

Japan's space agency began recruiting astronauts for the first time in nearly a decade yesterday amid growing interest in the space program spurred by a Japanese astronaut's journey on the US space shuttle Endeavor.

Japan's space program was in tatters in the late 1990s after a series of mishaps, but it sent its first lunar probe into orbit last year in hopes of putting the program back on track.

The first piece of a new Japanese laboratory was also installed on the International Space Station last month, paving the way for more Japanese astronauts to work in space.