Wakata to serve as 1st Japanese skipper of Int'l Space Station+

TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo -
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will serve as the first Japanese captain of
the International Space Station during his stay from the end of 2013, the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency said Thursday.
For his fourth space mission and his second long-term assignment, Wakata, 47,
will stay at the ISS for six months after traveling there aboard Russia's Soyuz
spacecraft, during which he will take command in the last two months of the
mission, JAXA said.
''I'm truly grateful for being given such a great opportunity,'' Wakata said
Thursday morning Japan time in a teleconference for the press linking the
Tokyo-based JAXA office and Houston, Texas, where he usually trains.
''(My appointment as commander) is beyond what I expected. I feel greatly
honored, given that Japan is the only country that has not produced an ISS
captain (among countries involved in the space project),'' he said.
He also said he intends to unite his team as a Japanese who puts a premium on
harmonious relationships.
During the first four months in orbit, Wakata will conduct scientific
experiments using JAXA's Kibo (Hope) space laboratory.
On Wakata's new assignment, Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters at his
official residence, ''It's great. I wish I were him as I wanted to be an
astronaut or build a rocket when I was a kid.''
Wakata, a Saitama Prefecture native and graduate of Kyushu University, began
his space career in 1992 after working as an engineer at Japan Airlines Corp.
He flew on space shuttle missions in 1996 and 2000 before an extended stay at
the ISS in 2009.
He is known for his skill at handling robotic arms in outer space, which he put
to good use in retrieving a Japanese satellite from orbit and in fitting
Japan's Kibo lab at the ISS with an external experiment facility.
He is the only astronaut to have operated all four of the robotic arms used at
the ISS and U.S. space shuttles.
Fluent in English, he is believed to have been chosen as ISS chief also because
of his skills in communicating with astronauts from other countries.
Speaking about the news, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a press
conference in Tokyo, ''It's a gratifying development. I hope young Japanese
will also work in the global stage.''
Setsuo Arikawa, president of Kyushu University, told reporters in the city of
Fukuoka, ''We are extremely proud (of Wakata)...I hope he will exercise his
ability to the full extent and safely complete the big assignment.''
Among other Japanese astronauts, Satoshi Furukawa and Akihiko Hoshide are due
to board Soyuz spacecraft and reach the ISS in May and the summer of next year,
respectively.
==Kyodo
2011-02-17 23:12:12