![]() It deployed a lander, MINERVA, that was supposed to hop from place to place on the surface, but MINERVA never made it. The spacecraft launched in 2003 and successfully arrived at the asteroid in September 2005. Hayabusa is one of Japan's most famous robotic missions. "We will finally be able to conduct experiments in such fields as new material development, which require a lot of preparation time, and to study the impact of long stays in space on the human body," stated Tetsuo Tanaka, director of JAXA's space environment utilization center, in 2006.Ī newer JAXA mission to station is a "talking robot", Kirobo, intended to interact with astronauts and gain information about their mental health. JAXA's most recent astronaut selection was in 2009.įor the station, NASDA and JAXA created cargo spaceships and the Kibo – the first Japanese module for human spaceflight. More astronauts were selected in several rounds to fill the demand for orbital slots. The first spacewalk took place in 1997, when Takao Doi did procedure evaluations for station aboard STS-87. Then they learned about other station duties: on STS-72 in 1996, for example, Koichi Wakata (part of the 1992 astronaut class) became the first Japanese astronaut to operate robotics in space. ![]() The aim of the early Japanese spaceflights was to accumulate research experience that would be useful on the ISS. The mission on space shuttle Endeavour included Spacelab-J, a scientific module that included numerous Japanese experiments. Mohri was the first one to fly into space, riding aboard STS-47 in 1992. Japan's first astronaut selection took place in 1985 under NASDA, with three candidates selected: Mamoru Mohri, Chiaki Mukai and Takao Doi. It's important to note that much of the work carried out by JAXA today originates from research performed at these three agencies. ![]() The goal was to form "one independent administrative institution to be able to perform all their activities in the aerospace field as one organization, from basic research and development to utilization," JAXA stated. Japanese authorities elected to merge the three groups into one in 2003. NASDA also performed work in satellites and launch vehicles, and was the hub for Japan's early astronaut program. NAL (first called the National Aeronautical Laboratory) worked on rockets, aircraft, aerospace transportation and related technology. ![]()
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