Hisashi Hirabayashi

He was born in 1943 in Nagano Prefecture. He received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. in astronomy from the Dept. of Physics of the University of Tokyo. He was involved in the plan for the construction of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatory (formerly the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory), and engaged in research in the midst of the nature of Nobeyama. In 1988, he moved to the former incarnation of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences to participate in the planning for the Haruka (MUSES-B) space-based radio telescope, which was launched in 1997. He took charge of the VLBI Space Observatory Program (VSOP), and brought the project to successful completion. In 2007, he retired from the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences and moved to the JAXA Space Education Center. He has written books (all in Japanese) including Understanding the Universe (Kosaido Publishing), Intelligent Life in the Universe (PHP Publishing) and The Universe of Stars and Living Things (Shueisha, joint authorship).

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