within ISS within JAXA

ISS/Kibo Times

The ISS/Kibo Times - Winter issue 2020/2021 -

The ISS / Kibo Times will be issued quarterly to introduce Japan's activities on the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo", the International Space Station (ISS), and the activities of JAXA Astronauts.

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- CONTENTS -
1. ISS/Kibo Topics
2. JAXA Astronauts Activities
3. Recommended Videos

1. ISS/Kibo Topics

KiboCUBE: Team from the Central American Integration System Selected for Fifth Round and Extension of KiboCUBE Cooperation Program and Announcement of Opportunity for Sixth Round of KiboCUBE (January 14, 2021)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) cooperate under the KiboCUBE program launched in 2015 to provide developing countries with opportunities to deploy CubeSats from the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" of the International Space Station (ISS). JAXA and OOSA have selected a team from the Central American Integration System (SICA), for the fifth round of KiboCUBE program, which called for applications from March 26, 2019 to September 30, 2019 (Reference 1). It is the first time to select international organization in this program. Also, JAXA and UNOOSA have agreed to extend the KiboCUBE program until the end of December 2024 and opened the sixth round of KiboCUBE (Reference2, 3, 4). Through KiboCUBE cooperation program, JAXA and UNOOSA aim to contribute to the capacity building of space related technology in the developing countries. JAXA contributes to the Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education, Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth, Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure through this program, along with the promotion of Kibo utilization.

Call for team participation in the 2nd Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) (February 15, 2021)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will host a programming competition involving free-flying robots*1 of JAXA and NASA in ISS/Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) known as "Kibo".　JAXA is pleased to announce that the call for team participation has been open. This competition sets some tasks/obstacles to solving in the Kibo module as a game space. The participants create programs to operate free-flying robots in ISS/Kibo and complete a mission. The competition will entail a time requirement and problem-solving ability. The team who won the Preliminary Round (domestic round) held in their country using the simulator for this competition on the ground can participate in the Final Round which will be held on-board Kibo module. The Preliminary Round will be around June 2021 and the Final Round will be around September 2021. Students who are interested in this competition, check the following website.

• Entry details and application (English)
• Entry Deadline : May 16, 2021 at 23:59 (JST)

A list of the Certified Japanese Space Foods is updated (February 19, 2021)

Detailed data on the foods (47 items of 26 manufacturers) which have been certified as Japanese space foods are presented in the chronological order of certification.

JAXA and AEP Sign Letter of Intent (March 15, 2021)

Dr. YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Cnel. DEM (R) Liduvino Vielman Díaz, President of the Paraguayan Space Agency (AEP) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on March 14, 2021. It was signed on the same day the first Paraguayan satellite GUARANISAT-1 successfully deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) Japanese Experiment Module (KIBO) into orbit. Based on this LOI, JAXA and AEP have confirmed mutual intention to start dialogues to explore possibilities of cooperation in space activities for peaceful purposes.

Asian Herb in Space (The third project of the Space Seeds for Asian Future) Mission-1 growth experiment results and Messages from Astronaut (March 17, 2021)

Asian Herb in Space (AHiS) is an activity of the Asian Beneficial Collaboration through Kibo Utilization initiative (Kibo-ABC) under the Space Environment Utilization Working Group (SEUWG) of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF). AHiS is the third project of the Space Seeds for Asian Future program (SSAF).

2. JAXA Astronauts Activities

JAXA Astronaut Soichi Noguchi
JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon have arrived at the International Space Station. Crew-1 joins Expedition 64 crew on November 17th.

• Web site of the Mission is updating (only in Japanese)

Please visit his Twitter:

Astronaut Noguchi's Twitter:

JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide
JAXA astronaut, HOSHIDE Akihiko, currently preparing and training for the ISS Expedition, has been decided to board the second operational Crew Dragon developed by Space-X. The launch is scheduled for spring 2021.

• Web site of the Mission is opened (only in Japanese)

Please visit his Twitter:

Astronaut Hoshide's Twitter:

JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata
JAXA astronaut, Koichi Wakata, currently preparing and training for the ISS Expedition. The launch is scheduled around 2022.
Please visit his Twitter:

Astronaut Wakata's Twitter:

JAXA Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa
JAXA astronaut, Satoshi Furukawa, currently preparing and training for the ISS Expedition. The launch is scheduled around 2023.
Please visit his Twitter:

Astronaut Furukawa's Twitter:

3. Recommended Videos

We introduce hot Videos from the JAXA Digital Archives.

• Japan-U.S. Aerospace Cooperation Seminar 2021: The Artemis Generation is Upon Us
• ISS/KIBO Utilization Symposium2021 [DAY4] JAXA/NASA Joint Workshop (in English)

• soichi astro channel (in Japanese)

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Next issue will be around the June, 2021.

Publisher: Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

*All times are Japan Standard Time