JAXA Astronaut Activity Report

Astronaut Furukawa Completes Assignment as 25S Mission Backup Crew

The Soyuz TMA-20 (25S) mission’s primary crew and backup crew posing for a photo at a pre-flight media briefing (Photo Credit: JAXA/NASA/Carla Cioffi)

The International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 26/27 crew was launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft (25S) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 16, 2010. At that moment, Furukawa’s role as a backup crew member for the 25S and Expedition 26/27 missions was completed. Furukawa and the other backup crew members participated in pre-flight training and activities for the 25S and Expedition 26/27 missions alongside the primary crew right up until the Soyuz TMA-20 launch.

After taking the final examination for the Expedition 26/27 crew at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Russia, both the primary and backup crews flew to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. At Baikonur, the backup crew members, alongside the primary crew, took part in final training sessions, flight timeline review, and medical checkups to ready themselves for a possible crew replacement.

Having completed his backup duty, Furukawa has shifted his focus to pre-flight training and activities for the Expedition 28/29 mission, on which Furukawa will serve as a primary crew member.

Prior to the Soyuz TMA-20 launch, Astronaut Noguchi flew to the Baikonur Cosmodrome to support Furukawa’s pre-launch activities using his experience with a Soyuz launch.

Astronaut Candidate Training

Astronaut Wakata (left) and Astronaut Candidate Kanai (right) simulating spacewalk activity in the NBL pool (Photo Credit: JAXA/NASA)

Astronaut candidates Yui, Onishi, and Kanai continued their astronaut candidate training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) and other training sites in the U.S.

The three candidates continued their language lessons and flight training using a T-38 jet trainer. Onishi and Kanai participated in Extravehicular Activity (EVA) training at JSC’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). During the EVA training, Kanai had an opportunity to join his senior astronaut Wakata, who has experienced spaceflights aboard the space shuttle and a long-duration mission aboard the ISS. Kanai received a lot of useful advice from Astronaut Wakata while they reviewed spacewalk tasks together.

The three candidates temporarily returned to Japan at the end of December. At JAXA, they held a debriefing session to report the status and progress of their training and participated in training related to Kibo utilization to update their knowledge on current Kibo utilization programs.

Astronaut Noguchi Returns OFK T-Shirt to IHI Aerospace Co., Ltd.

Astronaut Noguchi visited the Tomioka Office of IHI Aerospace Co., Ltd. to return a T-shirt provided by the company as an Official Flight Kit (OFK). IHI Aerospace has a strong relationship with JAXA in spaceflight technology development.

At the IHI Aerospace Tomioka Office, Noguchi held a mission debriefing session. Noguchi showed video of the station crew’s activities, including Noguchi wearing the T-shirt and conducting a mission task. He detailed his mission tasks while showing the video.

During a question and answer session, the workers at the IHI Aerospace Tomioka Office, mostly those involved in human spaceflight technology development, actively discussed technical issues on spaceflight engineering with Noguchi. They also asked Noguchi for his opinion on Japan’s future human spaceflight.

Astronaut Hoshide Participates in JAXAi Closing Event and Visits Director of Setagaya Ward

JAXAi Closing Event (From left: Mr. Terakado, Mr. Tachikawa (JAXA President), Mr. Kawaguchi (Hayabusa Project Manager), and Astronaut Hoshide) (Photo Credit: JAXA)

Astronaut Hoshide took part in the closing event of JAXAi to reminisce about its 6 years and 3 months of history. He spent the last moments of JAXAi with the people gathered there.

During a talk session, Mr. Tachikawa (JAXA President), Mr. Kawaguchi (Hayabusa Project Manager), and Hoshide reminisced over various exhibitions held at JAXAi, such as Hoshide’s biographical exhibition, which exhibited profiles of his candidate training through to his mission aboard Discovery (STS-124). In addition, guided by a special event navigator, Mr. Kazuo Terakado, they discussed JAXA’s activities in Fiscal Year 2010, which was marked with many historic achievements. They also discussed their prospects for Japan’s future space exploration activities.

In the middle of December, Hoshide visited Mr. Kumamoto, the director of Setagaya Ward. His official visit was realized thanks to his old school, Futako-Tamagawa Elementary School, which is located in Setagaya Ward. Hoshide was also invited to the Setagaya Education Center to give a lecture at the center’s Planetarium. He talked to the children gathered at the Planetarium about his experience during the STS-124 mission.

Astronaut Yamazaki Participates in Talk Show in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture

Astronaut Yamazaki writing a message on a planetarium projector at the Kigoyama Astronomical Observation Center in Kanazawa (Photo Credit: JAXA)

Astronaut Yamazaki visited Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture to take part in a talk show at Ishikawa Ongakudo (a concert hall). The talk show was hosted and organized by the Kodomo-Uchu-Mirai Association (Ku-MA) as the 50th anniversary celebration of the PFU foundation.

Yamazaki related her experience aboard the space shuttle Discovery during the STS-131 mission while showing video and pictures. She mentioned her and her crew mates’ efforts to maintain physical condition and astronaut skills until launch, saying, “There were eleven years of continuous effort and hard training behind the success of the two-week mission.” Yamazaki said that success will not be achieved without each day’s continuing effort.

Yamazaki also visited the Kigoyama Astronomical Observation Center in Kanazawa City, where she has recently assumed the honorable director’s post. There, Yamazaki had an opportunity to talk with students of Kigo-yama Uchi-juku (Mt. Kigo Space School).