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JAXA Selects Astronaut Candidates for Future ISS crew

February 25, 2009 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been recruiting and selecting astronaut candidates for future International Space Station (ISS) missions to operate and utilize the ISS until 2015. Today, we are pleased to announce that two candidates have been selected.
They will participate in a two-year astronaut candidate training course. After being certified as astronauts upon completion of the training course, two more years of mission-specific training for the ISS will be required before they can stay aboard the ISS. They are expected to be stationed there for up to six months if required for the operation and maintenance of the ISS, including the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo," and performing various space experiment missions.
Another candidate may be selected as a backup astronaut.

Astronaut Candidate:
Mr. Takuya Onishi
Mr. Kimiya Yui
Schedule:
They will join JAXA on April 1, 2009, and participate in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut candidate training course for two years to acquire engineering and science knowledge as well as ISS and Kibo system familiarity required for astronauts. After completing the astronaut candidate training course, they will be certified as a JAXA astronaut based on the training result evaluation.


Attachment

Biography of each candidate
Name:
Age:
Current occupation:
Place of birth:
Brief personal history:
Takuya Onishi
33 years old (born in 1975)
Flight Crew Center at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.
Tokyo
March 1998 Bachelor's degree from Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
April 1998 Joined All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd
June 2003 Current position


Name:
Age:
Current occupation:
Place of birth:
Brief personal history:
Kimiya Yui
39 years old (born in 1970)
Air Staff Office, Japan Air Self Defense Force
Nagano Prefecture
March 1992 Graduated from Graduate School of Science and Engineering, National Defense Academy of Japan
April 1992 Joined Japan Air Self Defense Force, Ministry of Defense
Dec. 2008 Current position