Japanese astronaut receives award from Prime Minister

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, received an award from Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday.



Astronaut Koichi Wakata (left) receives an award from Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (right) on Wednesday. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to serve on an I.S.S. crew and the first Japanese astronaut to stay in space for a prolonged period of time.
Credit: JAXA


Wakata received the award for being the first Japanese astronaut to stay in space for a prolonged period of time. He was on the International Space Station for 4 ½ months before returning to Earth on July, 31.

Wakata’s first journey to space was during the STS-72 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on January 11, 1996. His work on I.S.S. began in October of 2000 as a Mission Specialist on the STS-92 mission of Space Shuttle Discovery to I.S.S. This assembly work prepared I.S.S. for its first resident crew.



File photo of Wakata from March, 2007.
Credit: NASA


His most recent trip to I.S.S. began as a Flight Engineer on the STS-119 mission of Space Shuttle Discovery in March of 2009. While on I.S.S, Wakata served as Flight Engineer 2 on crews Expedition 18, Expedition 19, and Expedition 20. He became the first Japanese astronaut of an I.S.S. crew. He returned home in July aboard the STS-127 mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour.


Wakata demonstrating a "flying carpet" during his stay on I.S.S.