Nationality Japanese Mission insignia Status Retired Name Naoko Yamazaki | Role Astronaut Selection 1999 NASDA Group | |
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Born December 27, 1970 (age 53) Matsudo, Chiba, Japan ( 1970-12-27 ) Time in space 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes Similar People Taichi Yamazaki, Dorothy Metcalf‑Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Alan G Poindexter, Clayton Anderson | ||
Other occupation Engineer, Researcher | ||
Seeing earth from space naoko yamazaki tedxhaneda
Naoko Yamazaki (山崎 直子, Yamazaki Naoko, born December 27, 1970) is a former Japanese astronaut at JAXA, the second Japanese woman to qualify. The first was Chiaki Mukai.
Contents
- Seeing earth from space naoko yamazaki tedxhaneda
- Life in space with astronaut naoko yamazaki
- Early life
- JAXA career
- NASA experience
- Personal life
- References
Life in space with astronaut naoko yamazaki
Early life
Yamazaki was born Naoko Sumino in Matsudo City. She spent two years of her childhood in Sapporo. After graduating from Ochanomizu University Senior High School in 1989, Yamazaki earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1993, and earned a Master of Science degree with a major in Aerospace Engineering in 1996.
JAXA career
Yamazaki was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999 by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, now JAXA), attended the ISS Astronaut Basic Training program beginning in April 1999, and was certified as an astronaut in September 2001. Since 2001, Yamazaki has participated in ISS Advanced Training and supported the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese Experiment Module. In May 2004, Yamazaki completed Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, Russia.
NASA experience
In June 2004, Yamazaki arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to begin Astronaut Candidate Training school. She is currently assigned to the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch.
In November 2008, JAXA announced that Yamazaki would become the second Japanese woman to fly in space on STS-131, scheduled to launch in 2010.
On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki entered space on the shuttle Discovery as part of mission STS-131. She returned to Earth on April 20, 2010.
Yamazaki retired from JAXA on August 31, 2011.
Personal life
Yamazaki was married to Taichi Yamazaki and the couple have two children; they were divorced in February 2012 according to the Japanese version of this entry. She enjoys scuba diving, snow skiing, flying and music.
In 2007, Yamazaki provided the voice as herself in episode 7 of the anime Rocket Girls.
Yamazaki has been a part-time researcher at the University of Tokyo since December 2010.