Japan's Kanai Off to His First Space Mission

Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Dec. 17 (Jiji Press)--A Soyuz spacecraft sending three astronauts, including Japan's Norishige Kanai, to the International Space Station was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome space center in Kazakhstan on Sunday afternoon. The Russian spacecraft lifted off at 1:21 p.m. local time (7:21 a.m. GMT) and entered into orbit at an altitude of about 200 kilometers some nine minutes after the launch. It is set to dock with the ISS on Tuesday afternoon Japan time. Kanai and his two colleagues--Anton Shkaplerov of Russia and Scott Tingle of the United States--are scheduled to stay at the ISS for about six months until June 3, 2018. This is the first space mission for Kanai, 41, who was a diving medical officer at Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force. He is the 12th Japanese astronaut, and the third doctor-turned-astronaut in Japan, after Chiaki Mukai and Satoshi Furukawa. During the ISS stay, about 30 experiments will be conducted at Japan's Kibo experimental module. Kanai will be in charge of crystallizing proteins and raising a mouse. He is also slated to release an ultrasmall satellite and conduct an experiment related to material science. Kanai will also carry out many medical experiments. In joint research with major Japanese lactic acid drink maker Yakult Honsha Co. <2267>, he will continuously take lactic acid bacteria contained in beverage products to examine their effects on the intestinal environment and immune system. He will offer medical treatment to the other two astronauts if necessary. Soyuz rockets launched since 2013 for ISS missions arrived at the space station six hours after their liftoffs. This time, the Soyuz carrying the three astronauts will reach the ISS two days after its launch, due to reasons including the need to adjust the orbit. After staying at the ISS until June 3 next year, the three astronauts will return to the Earth, on a grassland in Kazakhstan, aboard a Soyuz craft. Kanai graduated from Japan's National Defense Medical College in March 2002. After that, he worked as surgeon and diving medical officer at National Defense Medical College Hospital, the Self-Defense Forces' Ominato Hospital in the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, SDF Kure Hospital in the city of Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, and other institutions. Kanai was selected as an astronaut candidate by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, in September 2009. After participating in the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astronaut candidate training for about two years, he was certified as an ISS astronaut in July 2011. In August 2015, Kanai was picked as a flight engineer for the 2017-2018 ISS mission. END