Soichi Noguchi | |
|---|---|
野口 聡一 | |
_(cropped)_2.jpg) Noguchi in 2020 | |
| Born | (1965-04-15)15 April 1965 (age 59) Yokohama, Japan |
| Status | Retired |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Space career | |
| JAXA astronaut | |
Time in space | 344 days, 9 hours, 33 minutes |
| Selection | 1996 NASDA Group NASA Group 16 (1996) |
TotalEVAs | 4[1] |
Total EVA time | 27 hours, 1 minute[1] |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |       |
Soichi Noguchi (野口 聡一,Noguchi Sōichi, born 15 April 1965) is a Japaneseaeronautical engineer and formerJAXAastronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboardSTS-114 on 26 July 2005 forNASA's first "return to flight"Space Shuttle mission after theColumbia disaster. He was also in space as part of theSoyuz TMA-17 crew andExpedition 22 to theInternational Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the sixth Japanese astronaut to fly in space, the fifth to fly on the Space Shuttle, and the first to fly onCrew Dragon.[2]
His third flight was on board theDragon 2 capsule for theSpaceX Crew-1 mission which launched successfully on 15 November 2020 and landed on 2 May 2021. This makes him the third astronaut to fly on three different launch systems.[2]
He became a part-time lecturer at the graduate school of the University of Tokyo since 2011, a project professor since 2021.[3] As of 2022,[update] he is a project professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Nihon University.[4]
He retired from astronaut duty and quit JAXA on 1 June 2022.[5] He assumed the honorary director ofCupNoodles Museum since 7 June 2022,[6] the chief executive fellow of theInstitute for International Socio-Economic Studies[7] and the advisor ofIHI Corporation since 1 July 2022.[8] He is the representative of MiraiSpace Co., Ltd. (合同会社未来圏).[8][9]
Soichi Noguchi was born in 1965 inYokohama, Japan. He considersChigasaki, Japan, to be his hometown. He holds flight instructor certificate as CFII and MEI. Noguchi was aBoy Scout.[10][11][12] His hobbies include jogging, basketball, skiing and camping.[13]
Noguchi graduated from Chigasaki-Hokuryo High School (Chigasaki, Kanagawa) in 1984, and then studied at theUniversity of Tokyo, earning aB.S. degree in 1989 and anM.S. degree in 1991, both inAeronautical Engineering. Later on, he furthermore obtained aPh.D. degree in Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies in 2020, also from the University of Tokyo.[14][15][16]
After graduation, Noguchi worked forIshikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, assigned to theresearch and development department of their Aero-Engine and Space Operations division. He worked on aerodynamic design of commercial engines.[14]
Noguchi was selected as an astronaut candidate by theNational Space Development Agency of Japan (now part ofJAXA) in June 1996. In August 1996, he reported to NASA'sJohnson Space Center for NASAastronaut training. Noguchi qualified as amission specialist after two years, and received training on Russian space systems atGagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 1998. He was assigned to technical support for theJapanese Experiment Module of theInternational Space Station.
In 2013, Noguchi served as cavenaut into theESA CAVES[17] training inSardinia, alongsideDavid Saint-Jaques,Andreas Mogensen,Nikolai Tikhonov,Andrew Feustel andMichael Fincke.
In April 2001 Noguchi was assigned to the crew ofSTS-114 as a mission specialist, which at that point the flight was targeting launch to the ISS in 2003 aboardSpace Shuttle Atlantis, he was assigned to the crew alongside NASA astronautsEileen Collins (Commander),James Kelly (Pilot) andStephen Robinson (Mission Specialist), they were also scheduled to be joined by theExpedition 7 crew, who would remain aboard the ISS, replacing theExpedition 6 crew who would land aboard STS-114.[18]
Noguchi and the crew trained for this flight until February 2003, whenSTS-107, the flight immediately prior to STS-114,broke up while returning to Earth, destroying theSpace ShuttleColumbia and killing the seven astronauts on board; following this all shuttle flights were delayed. Since STS-114 was scheduled to be the next mission to fly following STS-107, its designation and crew were assigned as the "return to flight" mission, their flight remained relatively similar although new tasked needed to verify the changes made to the shuttle and the shuttle flight plan were added to the flight. Also, the delay in shuttle flights meant the launch ofExpedition 7 was moved from STS-114 toSoyuz TMA-2, leaving three more seats to be filled on STS-114, NASA astronautsCharles Camarda,Wendy Lawrence andAndrew Thomas were added to the crew to take their place.[18]
STS-114 launched aboardSpace ShuttleDiscovery on 26 July 2005, over two years since theColumbia disaster.[19] The shuttle docked to the ISS two days later, the crew joined theExpedition 11 crew consisting of Russian CommanderSergei Krikalev and American Flight EngineerJohn Phillips. Prior to docking to the station,Discovery and its crew performed the first-everrendezvous pitch maneuver, which allowed the two crew members aboard the station to photograph and observe the shuttle's heat shield, allowing them to discover any possible damage on the spacecraft'sheat shield. The maneuver was added following theColumbia disaster, which was caused by damage to the heat shield.[20]
During his first stay aboard the station, Noguchi performed threespacewalks, all three alongside Robinson. On the first excursion outside, the two tested new techniques for repairing damaged tiles on the shuttle's heat shield, while the second and third spacewalks were both dedicated to upgrading and maintaining the space station, replacing a Control Movement Gyro which had suffered a mechanical failure in 2002 and installing anExternal stowage platform which was brought up aboard STS-114.[21] Over the course of the three EVAs Noguchi spent 20 hours and 5 minutes outside the station.[1]
Noguchi and his crew mates returned to Earth on 9 August 2005, carrying over 7,055 pounds of equipment and trash down from the station inside of aMulti-Purpose Logistics Module, which had been used to bring up supplies to the station two weeks earlier.Discovery's landing at theKennedy Space Center wrapped up a 13-day, 21 hour, 32 minute and 48 second spaceflight.[22]
Following STS-114, Noguchi was assigned as a backup ISS Flight Engineer for JAXA astronautKoichi Wakata, who became the first Japanese astronaut to live long duration aboard the space station.[23] Following his assignment as a backup for Wakata, JAXA assigned Noguchi to the crew of ISSExpedition 22/23 alongside Russian cosmonautOleg Kotov and NASA astronautTimothy Creamer.[24]
Noguchi and his two crew mates launched on 21 December 2009 aboardSoyuz TMA-17, he became the first JAXA astronaut and second Japanese citizen (followingTokyo Broadcasting System reporterToyohiro Akiyama) to fly on a Soyuz spacecraft, the trio spent two days in free flight, before docking to the ISS and joining the Expedition 22 crew, joining American CommanderJeff Williams and Russian flight engineerMaksim Surayev.[25]
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During Expedition 22, the crew were visited bySpace ShuttleEndeavour during its penultimate flight,STS-130, which delivered theNode 3 module and theCupola to the station. During this flight Noguchi was also in space with his former STS-114 crewmate Stephen Robinson, who was mission specialist on STS-130.[26]Soyuz TMA-16 returned to Earth on 18 March 2010, carrying Surayev and Williams and officially ending Expedition 22, following which Noguchi, Kotov, and Creamer transferred to Expedition 23, with Kotov taking command of the station.[27] Shortly after they were joined bySoyuz TMA-18, carrying Russian cosmonautsAleksandr Skvortsov andMikhail Kornienko as well as American astronautTracy Caldwell Dyson.[28]
Expedition 23 was visited by two Space Shuttle missions,STS-131 andSTS-132. STS-131 delivered new supplies to the ISS aboard Space ShuttleDiscovery, the flight also carried JAXA mission specialistNaoko Yamazaki, who joined Noguchi on the station for a short while, marking the first time two Japanese citizens were in space at the same time.[29]Space ShuttleAtlantis launched to the station carrying the RussianRassvet module to the station towards the end of Expedition 23.[30]
Noguchi, joined by Kotov and Creamer undocked from the station and returned to Earth on 1 June 2010, the trio touched down inKazakhstan following 163 days in space, bringing Noguchi's total time in space to 177 days.[31]
On 7 November 2017 JAXA announced Noguchi had been assigned to the crew ofExpedition 62/63 as a flight engineer, scheduled for launch toward the end of 2019.[32] On 31 December 2018 he revealed his personal patch for the flight, during a tweet revealing the patch he also announced his mission would be launched aboard aCommercial Crew Vehicle, although it was not made clear whether his flight would take place aboard aSpaceXCrew Dragon orBoeing Starliner.[33]
In March 2020 he was assigned toSpaceX Crew-1,[34][35] the first operational flight of aSpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft.[36] Noguchi launched alongside NASA astronautsMichael Hopkins,Victor Glover, andShannon Walker,[37] on 15 November 2020. As well as Noguchi, all were members of theExpedition 64 crew on theInternational Space Station.[38] He is the third person, and first non–American, to launch aboard three different spacecraft; the Space Shuttle, the Soyuz, and the Dragon 2.[39]
During his third stay in space, he conducted his fourth career spacewalk withKathleen Rubins on March 5, 2021, spending almost 7 hours outside the ISS.[40]
He currently holds the world record of the longest gap between two consecutive spacewalks by the same person - 15 years and 214 days.[41][42]
Noguchi voices himself in episodes 13 and 26 of theanime seriesUchū Kyōdai (Space Brothers), which aired on 24 June 2012 and 29 September 2012 respectively.[43]
On 2 August 2015, Noguchi spoke to 33,628 fellow Scouts during the Arena Event at the23rd World Scout Jamboree, held in Japan.[44]
In 2021 he was recognized as a Genius 100 Visionary[45] and contributed his vision of the future to the Genius 100 Foundation and shared it during his induction ceremony which was held on March 14, 2021, while he was aboard the International Space Station.[46]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:NASA (25 May 2020)."CCP - Press Kit".Commercial Crew Program.Archived from the original on 25 May 2020. Retrieved3 June 2020.The Crew; Victor Glover SpaceX Crew-1; Mike Hopkins SpaceX Crew-1; Soichi Noguchi SpaceX Crew-1; Shannon Walker SpaceX Crew-1
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Shireman, Kirk (14 May 2020)."HEO NAC May 2020 International Space Station Status"(PDF).nasa.gov.Archived(PDF) from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved3 June 2020.Fall 2020 – SpaceX Crew-1 Launch and Dock [...] Demo2 in May/2020, Crew-1 in Fall/2020
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:"DM2 CCP Press Kit 2020".NASA. 24 March 2020. Retrieved10 May 2020. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Moran, Norah (28 February 2021)."Spacewalkers conclude today's spacewalk". NASA. Retrieved1 March 2021. This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA Astronaut Group 15 ← NASA Astronaut Group 16 →NASA Astronaut Group 17 | |||||||
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