| ISS Astronauts Activity Report, September
2001 |
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Naoko Sumino certified as an ASTRONAUT!!
Naoko Sumino was officially certified as an astronaut to work on board
the International Space Station in a ceremony held at NASDA headquarters
on September 26, 2001.
This is NASDA's September training primary activity report for ISS astronauts
Furukawa and Hoshide and an ASCAN Sumino.
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| Astronaut Sumino receiving
the certificate. |
Astronauts Furukawa, Hoshide and Sumino. |
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| Certification ceremony |
Press conference held at NASDA headquarters. |
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In February 1999, Sumino was selected as one of the astronaut candidates
(ASCANs) to work on board the International Space Station and has been
receiving basic training ever since, with the Tsukuba Space Center as her
activity base. By September 2001, she completed all the planned basic training
courses and received a training certificate on September 19. She was officially
certified as an astronaut to work on board the International Space Station
in a ceremony held at NASDA headquarters on September 26, 2001.
After the certification ceremony, a press conference was held in which
she stated, "We can see no national boarders from space. Watching
the Earth with wide eyed wonder, I hope to transfer the spirit of peace
to people throughout the world."
Sumino is the third person to finish the basic training that NASDA planned
and conducted, and to be certified by NASDA as an ISS astronaut, following
astronauts Furukawa and Hoshide. According to the international agreement,
the ASCAN's organization is responsible for his/her basic training, and
his/her certification of an ISS astronauts. NASDA has defined the following
requirements for the certification of an ISS astronaut; an ASCAN must finish
the basic training courses, have sufficient technical knowledge on the
Space Shuttle and the ISS, and satisfy medical criteria for ISS astronauts.
Sumino has fulfilled all of these requirements. Astronaut Sumino will receive
advanced training* and will participate in the development of
Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module of the ISS.
*Advanced training: Astronaut training following the basic
training to enhance understanding of the ISS systems and skills for operations.
Approximately a year long in total, planned to be conducted in participating
countries' facilities.
ASCAN (former) Sumino received water survival training from September 2,
2001 to Sep. 11 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center(GCTC) in Russia
and on the Black Sea.
The water survival training included escape from the return capsule to
the water surface, how to use the survival kit including emergency life
support equipment, and parachute splashdown.
During the training conducted on the Black Sea, Sumino, a Russian astronaut
and a Belgium astronaut formed a team. First, they conducted training rehearsal
on the deck of the mother ship and trained using emergency smoke signals
and flare signals.
Next, wearing a pressurized suit used for launch and entry, the team climbed
into the Soyuz return capsule. The return capsule was then slowly lowered
to the water using a crane. Simulating an emergency such as fire or water
leak, she escaped to the water in a quick action wearing the pressurized
suit and using a floatation device.
Next, simulating normal egress from the capsule on water, she changed from
her pressurized suit to a dry suit with cold weather clothing underneath
while inside the capsule, and exited to the water surface.
The capsule was swung intentionally simulating rough water. She also received
training in helicopter rescue from the water.
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| Survival kit Handling Training |
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| Escaping from the Return
Capsule to Water |
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| Simulating rescue by a helicopter |
During parachute training, she first received a lecture on the theory of
the parachute harness and parachuting procedures. In the hands-on training,
she was suspended from a crane mounted on the ceiling of the facility and
learned splashdown procedures. Using the Hydrolaboratory (a facility similar
to the Weightless Environment Test Facility in Tsukuba Space Center), she
trained several parachute splashdowns. She repeated this training several
times to learn how to remove the parachute harness quickly.
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| Parachute Splashdown Training |
On September 14, 2001, a shipment ceremony for the Pressurized Module of
Kibo was held at the Tobishima Plant of Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Astronauts Furukawa and Hoshide participated in the ceremony together with
JEM Project Manager Kuniaki Shiraki.
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| JEM Project Manager
Kuniaki Shiraki |
Astronauts Furukawa
and Hoshide |
Pressurized Module and the
staff who worked on it |
Astronaut Furukawa operating the Image Processing Unit |
Astronaut Furukawa demonstrated how to use the Image Processing Unit (IPU)
for Kibo's Multiuser Experiment Facilities during its presentation to the
press at Tsukuba Space center on September 14, 2001. The IPU has six VCRs,
capable of compressing a maximum of five channels of image data at a time
and transmitting them to the ground.
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Russian cosmonaut Alexander
Lazutkin visits Tsukuba Space Center |
Russian cosmonaut Alexander Lazutkin, who visited Japan to give lectures
to Japanese Youth, visited the Tsukuba Space Center on September 7, 2001.
Astronaut Furukawa escorted and showed him to the Weightless Environment
Test Facility and the Astronaut Training Facility. Furukawa also participated
in a free discussion. Talking with Mr. Lazutkin, who has stayed for a long
periods in space, must have been very useful to astronaut Furukawa who
will stay in space for a long period of time in the near future.
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| Astronaut Furukawa (left),
Astronaut Mohri (center), Cosmonaut Alexander Lazutkin (right) |
Astronaut Furukawa
explaining training using the Weightless Environment Test Facility |
Free discussion
in the conference room Kibo |
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"Fureai Space Festival
2001" |
Astronaut Hoshide participated in the Space Memorial Day event "Fureai
Space Festival 2001" that took place in Ohsaka EXPO Hall on September
15.
The event was composed of three parts, "Let's start out to Space,"
"What's Space?," and "Let's meet the future Space."
Astronaut Hoshide participated in the third part together with Professor
Matogawa from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and Mr.
Osamu Ishiwata, the author of the comic "Passport Blue." They
talked about astronaut Noguchi's mission scheduled for next year and about
the International Space Station.
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| In the event hall |
From the right Mr. Ishiwata, astronaut
Hoshide, professor Matogawa |
Astronaut Hoshide |
The Japanese ISS astronauts' October activity report will be issued
in the middle of November.
Last Updated: November 5, 2001
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