Kimiya Yui | |
|---|---|
| 油井 亀美也 | |
.jpg) Yui in 2025 | |
| Born | (1970-01-30)30 January 1970 (age 55) Kawakami, Nagano, Japan |
| Education | |
| Children | 3 |
| Space career | |
| JAXA astronaut | |
Time in space | 256 days, 14 hours, 52 minutes [refresh] (currently in space) |
| Selection | |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |      |
| Military career | |
| Branch | Japan Air Self-Defense Force |
| Years | 1992–2009 |
| Rank | Lieutenant commander (Ret.) |
| Unit | 204th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1996–2000) |
Kimiya Yui (油井 亀美也; born 30 January 1970)[1] is a Japanese astronaut with theJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and a retired fighter pilot with theJapan Air Self-Defense Force. He was selected by JAXA in 2009.[2]
Yui, fromNagano Prefecture, enrolled in theJapan Air Self-Defense Force after he graduated from theNational Defense Academy of Japan in 1992. He has piloted anF-15 Eagle fighter as atest pilot, and worked in the Air Staff Office's Defense Planning Division since December 2008 as aLieutenant Colonel when he was selected as an astronaut candidate along withTakuya Onishi.
Yui is the first Japanese astronaut with military background, and was forced to retire due to the historical policy by Japanese government which separates the scientific field from military works.[3]
After astronaut candidate training, he was certified as an ISS astronaut in July 2011.
Yui served as anaquanaut aboard theAquariusunderwater laboratory during theNEEMO 16 undersea exploration mission in June 2012.[4] The NEEMO 16 crew successfully "splashed down" at 11:05 am on June 11.[5] On the morning of June 12, Yui and his crewmates officially became aquanauts, having spent over 24 hours underwater.[6] The crew safely returned to the surface on June 22.[7]
In November 2016, Yui became Chief of theJAXA Astronaut Corps.[8]
In 2013, Yui was assigned as backup flight engineer forItalian astronautSamantha Cristoforetti for ISSExpedition 42/43.[9] Cristoforetti launched onboardSoyuz TMA-15M alongside fellow Expedition 42/43 crewmembersAnton Shkaplerov andTerry Virts 23 November 2014, following which Yui began training as prime crew Flight Engineer for ISSExpedition 44/45 alongsideRoscosmos cosmonautOleg Kononenko andNASA astronautKjell Lindgren.
Yui launched onboardSoyuz TMA-17M alongside Kononenko and Lindgren on 22 July 2015 from theBaikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstan, a solar panel on the Soyuz failed to deploy once the spacecraft got to orbit although this was not mission-critical, and the crew successfully docked with the ISS six hours later, officially becoming members of the Expedition 44 crew alongside Russian cosmonautsGennady Padalka andMikhail Kornienko as well as NASA astronautScott Kelly.[10] During Expedition 44 Yui robotically supported the arrival ofJAXAsHTV-5 uncrewed resupply spacecraft in August 2015[11] and was part of a rare "direct handover" period on board the ISS where nine crew members were present on board the station following the arrival ofSoyuz TMA-18M and before the departure ofSoyuz TMA-16M, this handover was carried out in order to allow Kornienko and Kelly to remain on board the ISS for afull year.[12]
Yui remained on board the ISS alongside Lindgren, Kononenko, Korneninko and Kelly following the departure ofSoyuz TMA-16M, after which the five transferred over to Expedition 45, they were joined by Russian cosmonautSergey Volkov who brought the crew up to six members. During Expedition 45 Yui supported two spacewalks, made by Lindgren and Kelly on 28 October and 6 November 2015, and supported the arrival ofOrbital ATK'sOA-4.[13]
On 11 December 2015, Yui, alongside Kononenko and Lindgren undocked from the ISS, officially ending Expedition 45 and startingExpedition 46, and landed on theKazakh Steppe on the same day following 142 days in space.[14]
On August 1, 2025, he launched aboardSpaceX Crew-11 forExpedition 73/74.
People currently inlow Earth orbit | |||||
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| International Space Station (Expedition 73) |
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| Tiangong (Expedition 9) |
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NASA Astronaut Group 19 ← NASA Astronaut Group 20 →NASA Astronaut Group 21 | |||||||
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| International mission specialists |
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| International | |
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| National | |
