In a press release by JAXA, Astronaut Noguchi Soichi is going back to the International Space Station. The March 31, 2020 JAXA press release indicated that Noguchi Soichi is currently preparing and training for the ISS Expedition, will start training to board the first operational Crew Dragon under development by Space-X.
About JAXA astronaut Noguchi Soichi
Noguchi Soichi is a veteran astronaut. He has logged a total of 177 days 3 hours 5 minutes in space and has flown on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz. He was born in 1965 in Yokohama, Kanagawa.
He was selected as an astronaut candidate by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA was the precursor to JAXA) in May 1996. After two years of Astronaut Candidate Training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) he was qualified for flight assignments as a Mission Specialist (MS) aboard the Space Shuttle. Although he was selected as part of the mission team for STS-114 in 2001, his first flight into space was not until 2005 due pause NASA took after the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia OV-102.
The 2003 Columbia accident resulted from the loss of insulating foam from the External Tank, which hit the Orbiter’s left wing during launch and created a hole in the protective tiles required for safe reentry. When The Space Shuttle Columbia entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the left wing leading edge thermal protection was compromised and unable to prevent heating due to the hole from the foam. The shuttle ultimately lost of control and was lost killing the crew.
All flights were put on hold for more than 2 years as NASA implemented numerous safety improvements, like redesigning the External Tank with an improved bipod fitting that minimized potential foam debris from the tank. Additional other improvements included Solid Rocket Booster Bolt Catcher, the newly added impact sensors on wing’s leading edge, and additional tools to inspect the vehicle for any possible damage while in orbit.
Noguchi Soichi helped prove out new in orbit inspection and repair techniques. He flew on the Return to Flight mission of STS-114 space shuttle Discovery (July 26-August 9, 2005). The Orbiter docked with the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct space shuttle’s orbiter inspection and repair techniques were tested and evaluated for improved flight safety. During STS-114, he conducted three Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) and became the first Japanese astronaut to perform EVAs on the ISS and accumulated 20 hours and 5 minutes of spacewalk time in three EVAs. EVAs included:
- in-flight repair techniques on shuttle’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles
- replaced a failed Control Moment Gyro (CMG
- installed External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) on the ISS.
2nd Trip to Space
His second mission to Space was December 2009. Noguchi was launched to the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-17 (21S) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan where he did an crew rotation spending 161 days aboard the ISS(excludes time to and from station). He was a Flight Engineer for the Expedition 22/23 Mission.
About Crew Dragon:
Preparations for the first crewed flight of the SpaceX dragon are underway. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch Crew Dragon, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard the spacecraft, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting no earlier than mid-to-late May for launch. The mission will likely be one of the biggest events in 2020 for the space industry as America prepares for the first launch from US soil of Astronauts into orbit since final space shuttle mission on July 8, 2011. Following a successful Crew Demo-2, SpaceX has plans to launch a crew to the International Space Station in late 2020.
About JAXA
JAXA or Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is one of the key partners for ISS, and contributed a module to the space station called Kibo.
JAXA was established through the merger of three institutions,
- The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)
- The National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the
- National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA).
JAXA parallels NASA’s mission as it was designated as a core Japanese agency to support the Japanese government’s overall aerospace development and utilization. JAXA, like NASA conducts research and development and promotes utilization.
About The Author
Bill D’Zio
Co-Founder at WestEastSpace.com
Bill founded WestEastSpace.com after returning to China in 2019 to be supportive of his wife’s career. Moving to China meant leaving the US rocket/launch industry behind, as the USA and China don’t see eye to eye on cooperation in space. Bill has an engineering degree and is an experienced leader of international cross-functional teams with experience in evaluating, optimizing and awarding sub-contracts for complex systems. Bill has worked with ASME Components, Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) for use in launch vehicles, satellites, aerospace nuclear, and industrial applications.
Bill provides consulting services for engineering, supply chain, and project management.
