JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

New NASDA ISS Astronaut Naoko Sumino Born

National Space Development Agency of Japan

An astronaut candidate of the National Space Development Agency of Japan(NASDA), Naoko Sumino, completed all of the original training plan and have been qualified as an International Space Station (ISS) astronaut on September 26, 2001, followed by the examination regarding the astronaut qualification on September 21,2001. NASDA has been conducting Basic Training for astronaut candidates for the ISS since April, 1999.
Sumino will participate in the subsequent overall ISS training(Advanced Training), which will be conducted in Japan and countries participating in the ISS program. She will also support development of Japanese Experiment Module(Kibo). After she is assigned ISS flight, she will participate in the training of individual crewmembers' roles for her own specific tasks during the mission(Increment-Specific Training) and prepare for the flight.
Basic Training is based on an international guidelines specified by the space agencies(Japan, the US, Canada, European countries and Russia). The guidelines are covering the necessary ISS training fundamental contents, such as scientific and engineering knowledge, techniques, language skills, physical conditioning and mental attitude.
In the past, Japanese astronauts (Mamoru Mohri, Chiaki Mukai, Takao Doi, Koichi Wakata and Soichi Noguchi) have completed the training conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On the contrary, together with Satoshi Furukawa and Akihiko Hoshide, Sumino is an astronaut to have completed the Basic Training by Japan and be qualified as an astronaut.

Personal Data