Astronaut Koichi Wakata, who returned to Earth this month after a long stay on the International Space Station, appeared at his first press conference after returning and reflected on his five-month stay in space, saying, "It was a dream time."
Koichi Wakata has been staying on the International Space Station since October last year, working on his first spacewalk and various experiments in anticipation of future exploration of the Moon and Mars, and returned to Earth safely on the 10th of Japan time in a private spacecraft.
On the 12th, Japan time, Wakata attended a press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, USA, with the three astronauts who returned with him.
Mr. Wakata reflected, "The past five months have been truly a dream time, and we have achieved a lot with a very talented crew."
When asked again if he wanted to go to space, he said, "Of course, if I can, I would, but I would like to support the next astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and the newly selected Japan astronaut candidates while making use of my experience."
Furthermore, when a colleague asked me if I would eat delicious sushi after returning to Japan, I laughed and replied, "Ramen is also good."
On top of that, he said about his future aspirations, "I would like to continue to be involved in manned space exploration wherever I am, and I hope that cooperation across countries will continue in the future and that humans will advance to the Moon and Mars."