JAXA Astronaut Activity Report, April 2005

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This is JAXA's Japanese astronaut primary activity report for April 2005.

Mission Specialist Candidate Training

In April, Astronauts Furukawa, Hoshide, and Yamazaki continued with their Space Shuttle Mission Specialist training. The astronauts visited the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as part of their on-site training at NASA’s facilities, in addition to the Space Shuttle system training and T-38 flight training.

Space Shuttle System Training

The three astronauts continued with their Tier 4 training. They attended lectures on the shuttle's systems and participated in malfunction training, as well as being trained to use the simulator for ascent and entry operations.

On-site Training at NASA’s facilities

Astronauts Furukawa, Hoshide, and Yamazaki and Engineer Nakanoya, who was visiting KSC at the time.

The astronauts visited Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this month. They observed the actual ISS elements and related facilities, including a quick viewing of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) "Kibo," which they had not seen for some time. Engineer Nakanoya Shougo of JAXA's JEM Development and Operational Project Team was present for the preparation of Kibo's pre-launch activities, which will resume in June 2005. It had been a long time since the JAXA ASCANS members and Engineer Nakanoya had seen each other. The Flight Crew Interface Test (FCIT), a test to verify that the astronauts can satisfactorily operate Kibo without encountering any problems, will be conducted in July.

The astronauts also had the opportunity to see the processing of the space shuttle Discovery while at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This is the shuttle that Astronaut Noguchi will board for the STS-114 mission. Visiting the actual shuttle was a great occasion for the ASCANS, as they were able to see the objective of their training.

Lecture at the Washington Japanese Language School, St. Luke

At the lecture

Astronaut Doi gave a lecture at the Washington Japanese Language School at St. Luke. About 450 students and parents attended the lecture. Loud cheers and applause filled the air when the shuttle’s launch footage was shown. The children asked Astronaut Doi questions, such as, "I heard you have to go through tough training in order to become an astronaut. How much training is there? What was the toughest training? Was any of the training fun?” Astronaut Doi answered, explaining that “There is a lot of training, such as conducting experiments in space and in the shuttle. We also studied English. All of the training is fun. We must wait a long time before we can ride in the shuttle, and the waiting is the hardest part of the process."

	I talked about the space shuttle and living and working in a space environment. The children watched the shuttle’s launch footage with great enthusiasm. Many questions were asked as well. I greatly enjoyed giving this lecture. My hope is that many children will become interested in space and set their personal goals to working on space-related endeavors.

Russian Language Immersion Training

Astronaut Wakata talking about space flight at the school his host family's children attend.

Astronaut Wakata has been participating in Russian Language Immersion Training since April 2005. The purpose of this training is to enhance his Russian communication ability. The focus of this training is not only learning the Russian language, but also learning the Russian way of thinking through home-stay and cultural activities. The goal is to prepare Astronaut Wakata for trouble-free activities while onboard the International Space Station sometime in the future. In addition to his daily conversations with the host family, Astronaut Wakata has grammar training five days a week as well as conversational, reinforcement, and cultural training four days a week.

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