Akihiko Hoshide | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Hoshide in 2020 | |
| Born | (1968-12-28)December 28, 1968 (age 56) Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan |
| Status | Active |
| Alma mater | Keio University University of Houston |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Space career | |
| JAXA astronaut | |
Time in space | 340 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes |
| Selection | 1999 NASDA Group |
TotalEVAs | 4 |
Total EVA time | 28 hours, 17 minutes |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |       |
Akihiko Hoshide (Japanese:星出 彰彦,Hepburn:Hoshide Akihiko; born December 28, 1968) is a Japaneseengineer,JAXAastronaut, and former commander of theInternational Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.[1]
He was born on December 28, 1968 inTokyo, Japan.[2]
He received anInternational Baccalaureate Diploma from theUnited World College of South East Asia,Singapore in 1987, a bachelor's degree inmechanical engineering fromKeio University in 1992, and a Master of Science degree inaerospace engineering from theUniversity of HoustonCullen College of Engineering in 1997.
Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) in 1992 and worked in the development of the H-II launch vehicle for two years. From 1994 to 1999, he was as an astronaut support engineer for the NASDA Astronaut Office, supporting the development of the astronaut training program, and he supported astronautKoichi Wakata during Wakata's training and mission onSTS-72.
In February 1999 Hoshide was selected by NASDA (now JAXA) as one of three Japanese astronaut candidates for theInternational Space Station (ISS). He started the ISSAstronaut Basic Training program in April 1999 and was certified as an astronaut in January 2001. Since April 2001, he has participated in ISS Advanced Training, as well as supporting the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese Experiment ModuleKibō and theH-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).
From 21 July 2014 to 29 July 2014 Hoshide commandedNASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations Mission 18 (NEEMO 18) to theAquarius Reef Base of the coast ofKey Largo,Florida. He was joined by NASA astronautJeanette Epps andMark Vande Hei as well as ESA astronautThomas Pesquet during the nine-day mission.[3]
In 2016 he served as part of the 2016European Space Agency's Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills (CAVES) expedition.[4] Where he spent two weeks underground in caves alongsideNASA astronautsRicky Arnold andJessica Meir,CNSA taikonaut Ye Guangfu, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Korsakov and ESA astronautPedro Duque in order to simulate spaceflight conditions.[5]
Hoshide's first mission was as mission specialist on boardSpace ShuttleDiscovery for theSTS-124 mission, which was the second of three missions to deliver theJapanese Experiment Module, nicknamedKibō, to the ISS.[6] STS-124 launched on 31 May 2008 from the Kennedy Space Center on its mission to the space station.
Discovery and its crew docked to the International Space Station on 2 June 2008, beginning 8 days of operations to install the Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurised Module (JEM-PM). On Flight Day 4, NASA astronautsMike Fossum andRonald Garan performed a spacewalk to prepare the ISS and the JEM-PM for installation, during this Hoshide and fellow STS-124 Mission SpecialistGreg Chamitoff robotically removed the module fromDiscovery's payload bay and moved it to its new home on the port the side ofNode 2. The next day the STS-124 andExpedition 17 crews openedKibō for the first time.[7]
Hoshide and the STS-124 crew remained on the ISS until 11 June 2008, whenDiscovery undocked from the International Space Station and began its return to Earth, leaving Greg Chamintoff on board as a flight engineer on the Expedition 17 crew, and returning Expedition 17 Flight EngineerGarrett Reisman. On 14 June 2008,Discovery landed on theShuttle Landing Facility at theKennedy Space Center following 13 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes in space, officially ending the STS-124 mission.
In November 2009 Hoshide was assigned to the crew of ISSExpedition 32/Expedition 33 as a flight engineer.[8] He started training at theGagarin Cosmonaut Training Center inStar City, Russia, and served on the backup crew forExpedition 30/31, which launched aboardSoyuz TMA-03M on 21 December 2011.[9]
Following the launch of Expedition 30/31, Hoshide started training for his own flight, alongsideRoscosmos cosmonautYuri Malenchenko and NASA astronautSunita Williams. The trio launched onboardSoyuz TMA-05M on 15 July 2012 ahead of a two-day flight to the ISS.[10] The three crewmembers arrived on board the ISS on 17 July 2012 and officially became members of the Expedition 32 crew, joining Russian CommanderGennady Padalka, Russian Flight EngineerSergei Revin and NASA Flight EngineerJoe Acaba.[11]
On 27 August 2012 Hoshide robotically captured and berthedJAXA'sHTV-3 uncrewed cargo spacecraft,[12] on 30 August he ventured outside the ISS alongside Williams for his firstspacewalk, over the eight hour, 17-minute spacewalk, the two astronauts prepared a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) for replacement on a later spacewalk and switched some cables on theRussian Orbital Segment ahead of the launch and docking of the futureNauka laboratory module.[12] On 5 September he and Williams went outside the station again, for a 6-hour, 28-minute spacewalk to replace the MBSU the two had prepared for replacement on the last spacewalk. They also replaced a camera onCanadarm-2.[13]
On 16 September 2012, Paldalka, Revin and Acaba departed the station onboardSoyuz TMA-04M, following which Hoshide, Williams and Malenchenko became part of the Expedition 33 crew, with Williams taking command of the station for the increment. They were later joined bySoyuz TMA-06M crewmembersOleg Novitsky andEvgeny Tarelkin, both of Roscosmos, and NASA astronautKevin Ford. On 11 October 2012 Hoshide and Williams successfully robotically capturedSpaceX'sCargo DragonCRS-1 uncrewed resupply spacecraft, the first mission contracted under NASA'sCommercial Resupply Services contract.[13] On 1 November Hoshide stepped outside the station with Williams for a third time and performed a six-hour, 38-minute spacewalk to carry out several maintenance tasks on the US Orbital Segment of the station, during which Hoshide took hold of the record for most cumulative spacewalk time for a Japanese astronaut, at 21-hours and 23-minutes total.[13]
Expedition 33 officially ended on 18 November 2012 with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-05M. Malenchenko, Williams and Hoshide safely landed approximately six hours after undocking near the remote town ofArkalyk,Kazakhstan following 127 days in space.[14]
Hoshide launched into space for the third time in 2021 aboardSpaceX Crew-2.[15] He served as a flight engineer on Expedition 65. On 27 April 2021, Hoshide assumed command of the ISS from NASA astronautShannon Walker, becoming only the second Japanese astronaut to command the station, followingKoichi Wakata, who commandedExpedition 39 in 2014.[16]
| Preceded by | ISS Commander (Expedition 65) 27 April to 4 October 2021 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
