Koichi Wakata is a Japanese engineer and an astronaut working for Axiom Space. He retired from JAXA in 2024. Wakata is a veteran of four NASA Space Shuttle missions, a Russian Soyuz mission, and a long-duration stay on the International Space Station. During a nearly two-decade career in spaceflight, he has logged more than five hundred days in space. During Expedition 39, he became the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station. Wakata flew on the Soyuz TMA-11M/Expedition 38/Expedition 39 long duration spaceflight from 7 November 2013 to 13 May 2014. During this spaceflight he was accompanied by Kirobo, the first humanoid robot astronaut.
Robert Shane Kimbrough is a retired United States Army officer and NASA astronaut. He was part of the first group of candidates selected for NASA astronaut training following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Kimbrough is a veteran of three spaceflights, the first being a Space Shuttle flight, and the second being a six-month mission to the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz craft. He was the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 50, and returned to Earth in April 2017. He is married to the former Robbie Lynn Nickels.
Soichi Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was also in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the sixth Japanese astronaut to fly in space, the fifth to fly on the Space Shuttle, and the first to fly on Crew Dragon.
The Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) is a European-built experiment storage freezer for the International Space Station. It comprises four independent dewars, which can be set to operate at different temperatures. Currently temperatures of −80 °C, −26 °C, and +4 °C are used during on-orbit ISS operations. Both reagents and samples are stored in the freezer. As well as storage, the freezer is designed to transport samples to and from the ISS in a temperature-controlled environment. The total capacity of the unit is 300 litres.
Satoshi Furukawa is a Japanese surgeon and JAXA astronaut. Furukawa was assigned to the International Space Station as a flight engineer on long-duration missions Expedition 28/29 (2011) and Expedition 69/70 (2023-2024).
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.
Sergey Nikolayevich Ryzhikov, lieutenant colonel of Russian Air Force, is a Russian cosmonaut, selected in 2006. He is a veteran of two long duration space flights to the ISS.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
Science and technology in Japan has helped fuel the rapid industrial and economic development of the country. Japan has a long history and tradition for scientific research and development, stretching as far back as the Meiji period.
Soyuz TMA-17 was a human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-17 crew members participated in ISS Expedition 22 and Expedition 23. The mission ended when the Soyuz TMA-17 capsule landed on 2 June 2010.
Andrey Ivanovich Borisenko is a Russian cosmonaut. He was selected as a cosmonaut in May 2003, and is a veteran of two long duration missions to the International Space Station.
Takuya Onishi is a Japanese astronaut who was selected for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2009. He spent four months on board the International Space Station in 2016.
Kimiya Yui is a Japanese astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He was selected for the agency in 2009.
Thomas Gautier Pesquet is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, actor, musician, and writer. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in November 2010. From November 2016 to June 2017, Pesquet was part of Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 as a flight engineer. Pesquet returned to space in April 2021 on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon for a second six-month stay on the ISS.
NASA Astronaut Group 20 saw the training of nine mission specialists, and five international mission specialists to become NASA astronauts. These 14 astronauts began training in August 2009 and officially graduated as astronauts on 4 November 2011.
HTV-1, also known as the HTV Demonstration Flight or HTV Technical Demonstration Vehicle, was the first flight of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle, launched in September 2009 to resupply the International Space Station and support the JAXA Kibō module or Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). It was an uncrewed cargo spacecraft carrying a mixture of pressurised and unpressurised cargo to the International Space Station. After a 52-day successful mission, HTV departed the ISS on 31 October 2009 after being released by the station's robotic arm. The spacecraft re-entered in the atmosphere of Earth on 1 November 2009 and disintegrated on re-entry as planned.
Norishige Kanai is a Japanese doctor and JAXA astronaut.
CAVES, an acronym for Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills, is a European Space Agency astronaut training course in which international astronauts train in a space-analogue cave environment. Designed at the European Astronaut Centre, the course aims to prepare astronauts for safe and efficient long duration spaceflight operations by means of a realistic scientific and exploration mission within a multicultural, ISS-representative team.
Expedition 66 was the 66th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began after the departure of Soyuz MS-18 on 17 October 2021. It was commanded by European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the fourth European astronaut and first French astronaut to command the ISS until 8 November 2021 when Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, who arrived aboard Soyuz MS-19, took over his command.
Expedition 72 is the 72nd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-25 on 23 September 2024 and is led by Sunita Williams, her second time serving as commander of the ISS. It will continue the extensive scientific research conducted aboard the ISS, focusing on various fields, including biology, human physiology, physics, and materials science. The crew members will also maintain and upgrade the space station systems.
