Four astronauts, including Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, will be launched from the United States to the International Space Station after 7:00 pm on the 22nd of Japan time on board a private spacecraft.

Mr. Hoshide's space flight is the third time, and he will be the second Japanese captain at the space station where he will stay.

Akihiko Hoshide, a Japanese astronaut, and astronauts from the United States and France, a total of four people, boarded the second American civilian spacecraft, the Crew Dragon, on the 22nd of Japan time at 7 pm It will be launched from Florida, USA too soon.



The spacecraft will be separated from the rocket and will arrive at the space station on the 23rd.



This is Mr. Hoshide's third space flight, and he will stay at the space station for about half a year, and will be the second Japanese captain after Mr. Koichi Wakata, as well as conducting scientific experiments.



Since Soichi Noguchi is currently staying at the space station, two Japanese people will be staying in space at the same time for the first time since 2010, Mr. Noguchi and Mr. Naoko Yamazaki.



This spacecraft and rocket were developed by an American private company as a reusable type that can be used multiple times, and this time, the first stage of the spacecraft and rocket was used once for the first time in the launch with an aviator. It is supposed to be launched by reusing what was used.

Akihiko Hoshide's third space flight

Akihiko Hoshide is 52 years old from Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.



This is the third space flight for the first time in nine years, and he will stay at the International Space Station for about half a year, and will be the second captain of a Japanese astronaut.



Mr. Hoshide became interested in space when he visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA as a child, and after graduating from university, he joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan at that time.



Initially, I was in charge of rocket development in Japan and support for training of astronaut Koichi Wakata.



Mr. Hoshide was selected as an astronaut with Satoshi Furukawa and Naoko Yamazaki in 1999, but he applied for it while he was still in college and was selected for the third time.



In 2008, he made his first space flight on the Space Shuttle, and was the first Japanese to operate the robot arm of the International Space Station to assemble the Japanese experimental building "Kibo". I took the Soyuz to the International Space Station and stayed there for a long time for four months.



This time, following Astronaut Soichi Noguchi in November last year, we plan to board the private spacecraft "Crew Dragon", which is the second consecutive Japanese person, to dock at the International Space Station and stay for about half a year. ..



In addition, it has been decided that the International Space Station will be the captain, and this is the second Japanese person to become the captain of the International Space Station after Koichi Wakata in 2014.



Mr. Hoshide has been on board the American "Space Shuttle" and the Russian "Soyuz" so far, so with this "Crew Dragon" boarding, he will be boarding three different types of spacecraft. This is the second Japanese person after Mr. Noguchi.