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All right. Good morning, Dr. Noguchi, thank you so much for accepting the interview. I'm Anne Chao, manager of the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice University, and today is Wednesday, March 16, I

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believe, 2022. And we're very, very honored that you have agreed to share your life story and all of your insights and experiences with us. So my first question would be, can you tell us a little bit about where you were born,

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your childhood education, and–and how you became an astronaut? But maybe we'll take that step by step. Okay, hi Anne, good to talk to you via–via Zoom. Yeah, nice to see you the other day at the wonderful

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reception. And thanks Rice University, and also Chao Center for Asian Studies, for having me. This a wonderful opportunity to talk about my–my life and my profession. Yes. And since you mentioned, you know, my former

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life, I will say "the life before astronaut," I was born in Japan, near Yokohama. It's a southern city, maybe 30 miles southwest of Tokyo.

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And it's famous for the nice, big port. And I studied aerospace engineering, the University of Tokyo. And obviously, when I was young, we—Japan,

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we do not have any human spaceflight program. And we are watching TV news of Apollo or Space Shuttle. And I always dream of becoming an astronaut, or at

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least work close to the space industry. So after I graduated from my university, I got a job as an engineer in one of the heavy-industry companies in Japan, IHI, and that

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company actually deals with rocket jet engines of aircraft, and also human spaceflight research activities. So I was lucky to engage in some of the space

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utilization. And when I was 30 years old, Japanese Space Agency recruit astronaut program. And out of

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572 applicants, I was lucky enough to be selected and sent to Houston, Texas. And that was 1996. So yeah, 26 years ago.

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So yeah, time flies. Time flies, fascinating. Before we go further, going back a little bit to your childhood, was your—were your parents engineers?

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Or how did they—did they encourage your interest? Or you just developed your own interest? And how many siblings do you have? And—yeah. Yeah, I have

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one sister, one little sister, and my father and my mother, they're both still healthy. That's good. And my father was an engineer, electrical engineer. And those were the days back in 1960s, 1970s.

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Japan is pretty strong. And those electric companies sending all the semi-semiconductors, televisions, radio, all those sorts of things around the world.

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So my father works at the—I believe at the television company, I mean, making television, and so I was pretty close to those engineering type of environment.

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Maybe that’s probably the reason that I kind of, you know, studied engineering as my first choice. I see. And did you go to high school in Yokohama as well?

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Yes, a little bit of an outskirt of Yokohama, but the same prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, and it's closer to the shoreline. The city name was Chigasaki.

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And it's–it's a nice, small town. And yeah, I spent very relaxed high school days over there, and—b-before I moved to central downtown Tokyo for–for university.

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Wonderful. So it–it must be—it's such an honor to be selected among the 500 plus applicants with this program, and so was there an exam? Or how were you selected?

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Yeah, and it's actually a very interesting process. Obviously, as I told you, when I was young, Japan, we do not have any human space program. And the first Japanese astronaut were selected in early—actually the late

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1980s. And that time, Japan basically mimic the selection method of–of NASA. So, of course, we started with

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some background check, and do some—actually a lot of interviews, and the medical screening. And the final stage, actually, they sent applicants, final group, like final 10,

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to Houston, Texas, Johnson Space Center, and let, you know, American astronauts group, astronaut office, to make a final interview and make sure that, you know, those people are, how to say, safe enough or tough enough

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to live in a very competitive area, competitive environment inside NASA. So–so I remember I did lots of interview.

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Some of them are very technical, some of them are psychological. Sometimes it's pressure based. I mean, there are a lot of, you know, the hot questions,

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curveball, or sometimes it's a very relaxed, casual conversation. And the final stage, we spent a week in Houston, Texas, and—where I met a lot of veteran astronauts

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and talk to them and have chance to visit their training center. And for us, it's more like sightseeing. But, you know, they–they hold this taking out, and see if we are capable of having a training in an

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English environment. And so I was–I was just so lucky to be selected. Do you remember any—can you give us an example of these technical questions, or psychological questions,

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or so-called "curveball" questions? Yeah, one of the question—yeah, there's—well, easy questions is, yeah, "What do you know about, you know, the rockets?" And, "How do you think about the space station, or the cooperation amongst international

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partners?" Those are relatively easy, and a lot of the technical and political questions is—it's okay. But the psychological question is, "What do you want to bring to space, if you only allowed to bring one?" .

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And—or, "What do you—what do you do if you are left alone in a spacecraft, knowing that the fuel is—only lasts for one hour?" And so those are the kinds of questions you have to

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come up with the idea and imagine your situation, and what's the best way to tackle the–the harsh environment. And then that's–that's part of the questions. And so it's more like you don't have the right answer.

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They're just looking for how we tackle the situation, or how do we handle the tough environment to make–make way out of it. I see. So you mentioned that also they need to see if you can be trained in an English speaking

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environment. When did you learn to speak English? And how—I mean, your English is absolutely fluent. So was this part of your training? Or did you learn this as you immersed in American, English-speaking

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environment? Yeah, I would say the—you know, once I come to Houston, it's much, much easier. Every day you talk to your colleagues in English, and you live in this—in–in

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Houston and, you know, the shopping, you know, walk around the city, you can use English. But when I was in Japan, it's, you know, we—always, Japanese always struggle with the conversation skills.

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And the one thing I was very lucky was once I got a job at IHI Heavy Industries, I was, you know, in the R&D section, where we had young engineer from United States:

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one from Stanford, the other from MIT. And, you know, I—you know, every day we—I sat with them, you know, of course with a lot of technical exchange, but was, you know, lucky enough to have,

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you know, the, you know, spend weekend with them, you know, or go to the central downtown Tokyo for sightseeing, those kinds of things. So that's–that's where I started to pick some of the

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English conversation skill. You mentioned that it takes a degree of toughness, right, to–to be able to receive the training, and even to get into the training program.

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And I know getting into University of Tokyo is in itself an extremely tough competition. So, would you describe yourself as—were you just growing up as a tougher person because that's your personality? Or did you have to acquire certain amount of skills to become

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much more, I guess, "tough" is the only way I can imagine, but also just be able to withstand all kinds of challenges? Yeah, and that's a good question. Yeah, you're right, University of Tokyo is one of the

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top–top university in Japan, so you have to be competitive. But I will say, you know, the life of astronaut, or–or selection process also,

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it's not just selecting number one out of 500, it's more like, you know, how he or she can cooperate each other, and find way, as a team,

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to be successful. And I think that's also true for most of the, you know, the R&D section. If—you know, some R&D section is individual race,

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but the–the company I were in, it's definitely a teamwork. We have a very senior engineer, and advisor, and young engineer like me, and in the middle, there's a top-level engineer scientist from like the United States.

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So, we form one team, each of us contribute to–to some degrees, to the success of the team. And that's definitely the–the key, you know, the knowing

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the importance of teamwork, even in the harsh selection process. And of course, once you get selected in the astronaut office, of course you have to be—you have to show that—you

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have to prove yourself to be useful. Yet again, teamwork, team players, is always highly valued. And those were—those who are the ones who tend to fly

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again and again. So that's the important key–key ingredient of a successful astronaut. So looking back on your childhood and upbringing by your parents, do you think there are some traits that

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they instilled in you that allowed you to be cooperative, but also a leader, and be able to sustain quite a bit of physical and mental challenges? I will say, the one thing that pops—popped my mind

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is that I was a Boy Scout. And since I was maybe eight years old, my parents took me to one of the Boy Scout camp, actually the wolf cub. And I really love it,

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and my friends were in the same organization. So Boy Scout was—it's actually the best way to learn about those teamwork, and also outdoor and survival skills,

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which definitely helps me when I become astronaut, then goes in—going through all those survival training, and, you know, walk across the mountains and, you know, with a tent on your back, and, you know, and do some survival

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type of stuff. So–so definitely, Boy Scout is one valuable experience that I have when I—in my childhood. Did your parents encourage you to pursue any particular profession

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as you were going through high school and university, or did they let you decide your own choice? I was pretty much on my own. Again, I told you earlier that my father was an engineer.

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So, you know, I think my father especially wants me to pursue science or a technological career. But he didn't push anything.

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He just want me to–want me to look for a profession that I like to do. And, you know, my mom is very generous and very,

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how do you say, open minded about my selection for schools, profession, and even when I apply for astronaut, I'm pretty sure they are nervous and scared to send their son

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to United States and to–to the astronaut group, but obviously they–they are pretty supportive. Was your mom at home, a stay-at-home mom? Or did she have a career?

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She was stay-at-home wife. So yeah, she's taking care of me and my sister. And yeah, we have a very happy,

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happy life in my childhood. That's wonderful. So now we move to when you have been sent by Japanese space agency to the United States NASA for training.

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Can you describe a little bit about some of the trainings that you received? Yeah, I came to Houston 1996, 26 years ago, and that time, NASA had the largest astronaut candidate, the

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largest ever in NASA history. We are 44 of us. Usually, astronaut class is like 10 to 20, and so our class

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was by far the largest, and includes—included nine international partners. So Japan, Fran-France, Italy, Sweden,

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what else... Canada. Hopefully I can remember every—Germany, England, and of course, US. So eight countries. So anyway, so, very—you know, the international

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environment. And of course, NASA has its own very strict curriculum. For training, we start from basics, and learn about the Space Shuttle, learn about the Space Station.

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And we use the T-38 jet aircraft to learn about piloting as well. And survival training. And also the

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spacewalk training, we use a big underwater training, basically a big pool the size of a football field. And it's about 40 feet deep. And we—underneath the water, there's a mock-up, the real–the

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real scale station frame, and we practice spacewalks. That was very physically tough training. So all those training, we go through one by one.

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And basic training took about two years to complete. And at that time, we are a fully certified astronaut and wait for the mission assignment.

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But the first two years is, well, just like, you know, the freshmen and sophomore of the university have a lot of classes, lot of event, and also get to know each other. So it's a fun time, but it's a really, really busy and really tough time.

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Do people drop out of the program after undergoing this tough training? Yeah, that's a tough question. But yeah, some people, sometime people drops out, or to be more precise,

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sometimes people want to pursue different career. Once they started training, they—he or she realized that this profession is not for them, and then they can–they can switch anytime. So unfortunately, that happens from time

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to time. I see. So after the two years training—so this is not the first year for Japan to send astronauts to NASA, right? You mentioned during the 1980s?

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Yeah, the first group were sent out in 1990s, and I was '96. So there was two groups before me. So I was able to, you know, talk to my elder

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astronauts, and how they survived the initial training, and what's important for the spaceflights, so–so in a way I have mentor, and, you know, someone I can talk to.

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So that was–that was a good thing. And I do the same thing for the younger astronauts when they first come to–to US. Obviously they're nervous, they don't know what to do.

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But, you know, I talk about my experience and I introduce them to, you know, NASA instructors and other astronauts, and they feel comfortable to stay with the program. I see.

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What was the–the biggest challenge for you during those two years of training? Oh, well, I think NASA is–is—does pretty good job that, you know, they're making sure that everyone's able

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to catch up with the pace. Of course, sometimes there's a dropout, but most of the time they take good care to make sure we are up to speed, the most of the time. The tough thing is, obviously, the balance between work and

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personal life. Yeah, of course, I was—when I came here, I already married with one kids, one daughter, and my daughter was only one year old at that time.

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So, you know–you know, it's tough. The–the migration from Japan is tough for me, but also tough, maybe tougher, for my wife as well. So, you know, to make sure you have a good

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balance between work and also life at home, because, you know, they are struggling. My–my–my daughter was also struggling, so make sure we—I take good care of them as well. So yeah, so the first year was—of course, we

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were excited. My wife were also excited, but still, very, very tough. And going back a little bit, when did you meet your wife? We were in the same high school.

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And yeah, we dated maybe five years or so? Before we finally got married. And she was–she was a nurse in a pretty good big hospital, downtown Tokyo.

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And with—after got married and got kid, she retired and become a full-time wife. And yeah, and–and yeah, we—she supported me throughout

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the–the professional life. So she came with you when you were sent to NASA? Yes. Yep, right. So then, moving off, I guess, to talk about your first space mission, can you

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tell us how–how you got selected? And how was it? Well, the–the initial training, the two years, which means by 2000, year 2000, I became a

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fully certified astronaut. That doesn't necessarily mean that you go to space right away. Actually, you–you do the support role to make sure your—the other astronauts fly to space in a safely manner, do a lot

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of technical support. And also mission, like talking to the space capsule, as a communicator is also important job. So those support role usually

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take couple years. So, I was actual—pretty lucky. I–I got a first mission assignment year 2001. So–so that time,

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pretty early in the phase, and of course, I was very excited. My wife was very happy. And we went on to the assigned crew training, meaning the initial

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training is kind of like generic, you learn everything to a certain level, but assigned training is concentrated on what you actually do in space. My case, I was a spacewalker, meaning I

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have to do the spacewalk training, and my crewmate is doing the robotic arm, so move the robot arm to assemble the big element. So we do different things, and as a team, we do—we

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accomplish a lot of different things. Anyway, so I started—assigned in 2001, and the year 2002, we spent the assigned training. And I was scheduled

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to go up in–in the March of 2003, until Columbia accident happens in the February of 2003, which is about a month before my flight. And of course, that time, seven astronauts were

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killed in Columbia accident. And the NASA stopped all the spacecraft and work with the accident investigation. We spent a lot of time supporting

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the–the family, and also come up with the solution to make space shuttle safer and better. So with those effort, finally come to a successful

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conclusion. And 2005, summer 2005, we were able to fly as STS-114. And that was the first flight after that Columbia accident.

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And that was two weeks flight. And we went to the International Space Station. I did three spacewalk. And we bring new piece to the space station.

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And yeah, that was a happy two weeks. Yeah, the short duration, but yet we accomplished a lot. Well, I think you're very modest, because from what I read, this mission was also slightly dangerous, right?

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Because they had not resolved every single technical issue, but they decided to send you off to space anyway. And I think they were monitoring little pieces of foam that fell off or that fell off. And I mean, the element of danger is palpable, but you were also so brave.

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The other question I was curious is that you're assigned your role as a spacewalker, and other teammates are assigned other roles. Can you choose? Or do–do people get upset that they all want to go walk on space, but they don't get to do

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that? Yeah, and that's kind of like a sensitive question. Of course, you know, like, everyone wants to spacewalk for sure. And everyone wants to be a commander. But of course,

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we–we will do whatever we were told to do. And usually—it–it sometimes changes, but usually, you know, the NASA select spacecraft commander.

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And my case, our commander was Eileen Collins. She was the first female spacecraft commander of–of the world, actually. And she very experienced

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Air Force pilot. And she was the commander of my flight, and she selected two spacewalker, one of them is me, and the other is Steve Robinson.

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Now he's working at the UC Davis. He's already retired. And he—she selected the two–two robot arm operator.

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And one–one person is dedicated more to science. So it's basically, we—each one of us has strengths and–and obviously, desire.

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But, you know, once you were selected, and as a crew member, and basically we–we do what we were told to do, and my case, it was a spacewalk. And my colleagues, they did a really good job of, yeah, like a robotic arm operator or a science

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operator. So–so as a team, we are very happy. What is it like to walk in space? Walk in space, actually, we do not walk, we just float. Because it's Zero-G, actually you have to use

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the hand to go to the hangar, one by one, so it's more like crawling or—but anyway, in a spacewalk, it's fun, definitely fun. The–the most awarding thing is you come out of the

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spacecraft and you-you're basically by yourself, and you–you watch the earth rotating just in front of me, 'cause there's nothing in between me and Earth. There's nothing in between.

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There's only a vacuum. Of course I was close to the space shuttle, and I was, you know, I still have those lifeline, tether attached to me, so I won't go anywhere.

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I was kind of, I stay close to the space shuttle, but feels like you are orbiting around–around universe, just like Earth. So it's just one to one,

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mano a mano. And, you know, all those technical work during the spacewalk, we–we spent like six hours outside, and everything we do, we train on the

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ground, underwater, those special training pool. So yeah, it is very highly labor intensive, you know, everything you do is not just sending

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a command or just do some programming. Everything you have to do with your hands. So very hand intensive, connecting the cable, or fastening the–the

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bolts, or moving one—stuff from one place to another. So we have to do everything by hand. So it's very, very analog, very manual, yet very, very rewarding.

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So you were–you were repairing things on the spacecraft when you were doing this spacewalk? And so you were basically spinning at a very high speed as you were doing this, right? Or were you just floating in space?

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Yeah, true. Yeah, that's right. We were actually spinning around the–the earth, you know, the—we revolve around Earth, 90 minutes one–one rep. So technically, you're right, we were revolving, spinning.

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But in space, you don't feel that way. Because—maybe because there's no–no air, so there's no wind. So we were traveling like five miles per second.

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So it's pretty fast. But I don't feel the speed. All I feel is you are floating, and there's Earth, there's space station, and me, feels like everything is so slow,

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because again, we don't feel the wind, well, we don't feel—we don't hear any sound. So although the speed is very fast, but it's very quiet, and you're–you're basically

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floating. So the six hours is with three spacewalks, a total of six hours? Actually, six hour each, a total of 20 hours. Yeah, yeah, long space walk, we spend sev—over seven hours, because lots of intensive work.

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So total over 20 hours. You can't get a drink of water or anything, you're out there? Good question! Actually, we have a drink bag. Inside the spacesuit, there's a small bag, and we put the straw

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right close to the—to mouth. So obviously, our medical doctors, you know, if you six hours—spend six hours without water, that's a concern of dehydration.

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So we will—we always carry a water, a plastic bag of water, about 32 ounce. So yeah. And we–we–we drink every drop of them.

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Because we just—because we were not able to eat, but we can drink water. And you mentioned that the training was under pool, underwater in a 40-foot-deep pool. Did that training

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really simulate, ultimately, your walk in space? Was that a very apt training? Yeah, that–that–that is the idea. Hopefully we can simulate what we do in space

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before we go to space. So underwater is the best possible solution. Because yeah, just like in the space, underwater, everything floats. So you kind of have the same feeling that even if the

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item is heavy, we can move with one arm and your body is floating. So we have to stable your body and do some work, so it's–it's close. But yeah, like–like you said, it's–it's,

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you know, that–that was the idea, but, you know, the water and the vacuum is two different things. So in the water, of course there is viscosity. So if you move

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underwater, it's very fatiguing, exhausting. In space, it's–it's definitely a piece of case—a piece of cake. You know, even if you're moving 100 yards—it's actually the space

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station is–is big, like a football field. So it's like 100 yards across. But if you swim 100 yards with the heavy

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equipment, that's very, very tough. But in space, a little bit—actually much, much easier. The tough thing is, you know, when you have some—let's say some items, let's say I have one item here,

00:35:25.100 - 00:35:36.990

let's say this is a tool. If you let go in the water, it just float around you. So it's easy to catch again.

00:35:37.540 - 00:35:51.610

But in space, if I lose with some speed, it will just shoot away, and you will never be able to get it back. Basically, it will be lost in space. So whether it's just a

00:35:51.610 - 00:36:05.300

small wire clip, or $1,000 special tools, once you let go, it will just–just go. It never comes back. So that's–that's the tough thing.

00:36:06.830 - 00:36:16.770

Have you ever lost any tools in space? Fortunately not! Because—so that was–that was one really—one thing that I'm very proud of. Out of four

00:36:16.770 - 00:36:30.410

spacewalk, I didn't lose a single piece. So yeah, I was–I was very lucky. That’s great. So, you mentioned that was nothing between you and the earth. It was just you and the earth.

00:36:30.730 - 00:36:45.450

Was this a kind of a—was it an emotional moment as well? Was it like a religious, spiritual experience? Yeah, you can say that it's very special moment. And yeah, it's almost striking that,

00:36:46.020 - 00:36:57.010

yeah, you know, of course, Earth is beautiful. And once you ride on the rocket and you see the beautiful Earth out of the window,

00:36:58.110 - 00:37:12.340

it's–it's very emotion-emotional experience. Yet, during spacewalk, you can feel it, because again, there's nothing in between you and Earth.

00:37:12.840 - 00:37:26.910

In the spacecraft, you–you have, you know, all those equipment, and there's a window, and across the window, you see Earth, so it's—especially across the window. So it's–it's not the same space.

00:37:29.320 - 00:37:45.300

But when you are outside the spacecraft, of course, you have a helmet, but you know, of course helmet, there is a window, but you definitely feel like you are, you know, the reach away from the Earth.

00:37:45.450 - 00:37:59.270

If you reach out, I almost feel like I can touch it. Because we are 400 miles away, you will not touch it, but since there's no—nothing, there's no air, there's no wind, in between

00:38:00.820 - 00:38:16.160

my existence and Earth. So definitely you feel like we were both living organ in this universe. So that was very striking experience, and you will have a

00:38:16.160 - 00:38:29.890

strong sense that–that we have to cherish this beautiful planet because there’s only one you can see, looking around. Of course you can see moon

00:38:30.460 - 00:38:43.830

and you can see Sun, and of course you can see the, you know, the planet Mars and Saturn, but there's no planet like Earth around us. So this is the only place we can live.

00:38:44.150 - 00:38:59.500

So you will–you will know it without thinking. So this is—that's almost like a spiritual experience. Wow, that's wonderful. So after this mission you stayed on. You didn't—so was there a term limit when you

00:38:59.590 - 00:39:14.780

had to return to Japan? Or can you stay at NASA for other missions? It depends. My case, you know, when I come back from the first flight, that was August of 2005.

00:39:15.930 - 00:39:34.640

That was a time that Japan space agency decided to send astronaut to longer space mission, which is like six months, and until my mission, all the missions were just a short stay, two week stay.

00:39:36.140 - 00:39:54.840

And Japanese space agency decided to send Japanese astronaut for a long duration mission, and that time, which means—that means we have to go to Russia, and Russia, of course they know

00:39:55.190 - 00:40:11.880

a lot about long duration spacecraft, the space mission. And their spacecraft, the Soyuz, was, that time, the only spacecraft which can stay on the International Space Station for six

00:40:11.880 - 00:40:28.820

months. Space Shuttle only lasts for two weeks, but the Soyuz can stay six months. So–so–so interesting that the turnover was a twist of life until when I become astronaut, 1996, I spent nine years in Houston.

00:40:30.110 - 00:40:48.260

All of the sudden I switch gears, and the next four years, I spent most of the time in–in Moscow, Russia. So obviously, I was—that time, I was already a flown veteran astronaut.

00:40:49.320 - 00:41:07.800

When I go to Moscow, there is a Russian Cosmonaut Training Center called Star City. And they treat me like just a–just a newbies, you know, the new–the new kids on the block, and, "Hey, you don't know anything, we will

00:41:07.830 - 00:41:22.710

train you from the–from the get go." So again, I have to start from scratch, do those classroom training, survival training, and yeah, and then, well, step

00:41:22.780 - 00:41:43.420

by step, we learned about the Soyuz spacecraft and the long duration mission. So spent four years, and my time finally came in 2009, the winter of 2009. And December I–I was

00:41:43.630 - 00:41:55.460

on the Soyuz spacecraft with Russian colleague and American colleague. So three of us in the capsule: one Russian, one American, one Japanese.

00:41:55.460 - 00:42:03.710

So that was a pretty good mix. And then we spent six months. And that was my second space mission.

00:42:04.430 - 00:42:19.890

So when you were in Moscow, did your family go with you to Moscow? Or did they stay here? Yeah, that was the toughest time because my family stayed in Houston. So yeah, my kids were like, elementary to junior high age, and

00:42:21.760 - 00:42:38.790

most of the astronauts choose not to bring families, 'cause Star City, Cosmonaut Training Center take care of us, but not necessarily for the families. So yeah, my family has a couple

00:42:38.900 - 00:42:53.710

of chance to visit Star City for a short duration, like two weeks in summer and two weeks in winter. And my kids love it. You know, the win—summer in Russia is very beautiful.

00:42:53.830 - 00:43:05.730

And the day is very long and very—the park is lots of greens. It's very relaxing. And winter, although it's very, very cold.

00:43:08.120 - 00:43:17.320

But yeah, you know, the–the—oh, the snow in–in Russia, it's also a good experience, and my kids really loved it. Obviously, coming from Houston, you know.

00:43:18.250 - 00:43:32.530

Yeah, since you're in Salt Lake City, you–you understand that the kids are excited to see the snow. So the Star City is nothing but snow during winter. So–so it's–it's a good experience,

00:43:32.530 - 00:43:50.650

although it's a separation from–from family for four years, you know, so that time is like one month in Moscow, next month in Houston, and then we just continue. So lots of training, lots of traveling, and lots

00:43:51.310 - 00:44:07.240

of time away from family. And you know, it's almost like living in two different world, you know, when you're in Moscow, everything is Russian. And, you know, we strive to, you know,

00:44:07.240 - 00:44:18.820

learn Russian and speak Russian, but it's still a tough environment. And coming back to Houston, yeah, with the families and relaxing, so it's—so that is almost

00:44:18.820 - 00:44:28.350

like two completely different world. So yeah, tough time. I was gonna ask, so the training was in Russian, the— Training was in Russia for the Soyuz.

00:44:28.390 - 00:44:42.900

Yes. And most of the training was done in Russian. So yeah, although I spent the four years, the first year–first year is almost like just solely Russian training, and Russian–Russian

00:44:42.900 - 00:44:57.270

language training. And you mentioned one month in Houston, one month in Moscow. Did you travel back and forth? Back and forth? Yeah. And yeah, I think there could be a better way.

00:44:57.270 - 00:45:13.560

If I–if I do it again, I will say, like, I want to spend three months in–in Russia and three months in Houston. Because you can—once you set the pace, it's easier to continue, rather than, you know–you know, like it usually it takes

00:45:13.560 - 00:45:23.170

two–two weeks to get, you know, for the time zone, at least. So, after two weeks, you think to—kind of like, you like the pace, and then you come

00:45:23.170 - 00:45:35.770

back and start all over again. So one month, that was very tough. But, you know, that time, the people, you know, don't—they don't want to separate from family for

00:45:36.320 - 00:45:53.500

so long time. So that's why I choose to do like, one month interval. But that–that was very tough, so yeah. Was the Russian cosmonaut training similar to the American NASA astronaut training? Yeah, that time, they're the same.

00:45:53.500 - 00:46:08.670

They're—so they are coming to–to US, like, monthly basis as well, which, right now it's—of course, it's—the current situation is totally different thing. There-there's no training.

00:46:09.920 - 00:46:24.560

No Americans in–in Russia, and there's no Russian in Houston as well. So that's kind of a sad situation. But these days, actually, they choose to stay much longer,

00:46:24.710 - 00:46:38.570

like six months straight in Moscow, and come back Houston for a couple months. And they go again. And Russian cosmonauts, actually, they–they like to stay here.

00:46:38.740 - 00:46:49.150

So some Russian cosmonauts stay one year straight without going back, and then they were happy. So– so it's a different philosophy.

00:46:50.270 - 00:47:04.460

You mentioned in your biography that you're the left-seater on the Soyuz spacecraft. What does that mean, left-seater? Yeah, it's a very technical expression. But in the Soyuz, the Commander is–is

00:47:04.840 - 00:47:16.840

always in the center. Center seat is Russian and it's always Russian. And so the Russian is commander, is the center, and the left seat has the

00:47:16.840 - 00:47:33.690

same level of training, and the same type of seat. So the philosophy or the idea is in case the commander became incapacitated, you know, lose conscious or

00:47:33.690 - 00:47:49.020

heavily injured, left-seater is trained to do the same level of skills for docking or landing. So–so left-seater in the Soyuz training

00:47:49.180 - 00:48:05.340

has a fairly technical assignment. On the right side, however, usually set aside for the tourists. So the right side, sometimes they don't even have a

00:48:05.390 - 00:48:19.630

checklist. So all they do is just sit–sit back and enjoy the show. But center seat and the left-seater is the two professional astronaut seats.

00:48:19.770 - 00:48:37.800

So that's–that's the position in my CV, that I was the first left-seater as a Japanese astronaut. And although we have a lot of left-seater now, but those days, pretty rare that foreign nationals do the left-seater

00:48:38.690 - 00:48:51.460

assignment. Oh I see, for an American—for a non-Russian to be left-seater. So once you dock and you're in the International Space Station, and you know you're going to be there for six months, how do

00:48:51.460 - 00:49:05.810

you–how do you deal with that? I mean, you know you're not going anywhere, you're just gonna be in that space capsule. Mentally, I mean, it's pretty tough I can imagine to… Yeah, you're right and yeah, it's—six months is–is long.

00:49:07.250 - 00:49:24.570

But if you think about—let's say, if you go to foreign countries, and let's say—yeah, especially like exchange students, you know you're gonna spend for–for two or three years, or maybe six months.

00:49:25.060 - 00:49:41.810

And so, you know, getting used to environment and set the daily life pattern is–is tough thing. Once you establish the pace, the rest is easy.

00:49:43.330 - 00:50:00.490

And so for me, the first two weeks, yeah, I would say first month was tough, because your body keep changing during first month. Because of the zero gravity, you know, your body reacts to the new environment.

00:50:00.490 - 00:50:13.750

Sometimes it's hard to sleep and sometimes you don't have any appetite. And sometimes people has even like back pain or, you know, shoulder pain.

00:50:14.510 - 00:50:29.670

So those kind of initial reaction slowly fade away, and within, you know, three weeks to one month, things get easy. So you feel like—almost feel like you're–you're living in there forever.

00:50:30.570 - 00:50:43.860

And then, of course, it's–it's time away from–from family. That's–that's a tough thing. And all those walking environment is, yeah, it's different from–from ground,

00:50:43.860 - 00:50:58.460

so you have to get used to it. But once you-you're accustomed to the pace and you like the environment, the–the next five months go like–like snap.

00:50:58.490 - 00:51:11.180

Wow. So, do you have clocks. I mean, what time zone do you adhere to when you're in space? Ah. Good question, we need the clock. And we adopt the–the Greenwich Mean Time, which is

00:51:11.350 - 00:51:30.690

basically London time. So it's five hours—six hours ahead of Houston, or nine hours behind Japan, and it's three hour behind Moscow, actually. But—so it's–it's in between Houston and Japan.

00:51:31.570 - 00:51:46.690

And for European people, it's very easy to live, ‘cause it's London time. But for us, it's—yeah, nine hours is a tough adjustment. But again, you know, once you get used to it, it's just like, you know, the

00:51:46.690 - 00:51:54.800

overseas travel. Once you get to the new time zone, then everything is easy. Yeah. But yeah, we live in the London time.

00:51:55.490 - 00:52:11.390

So how many astronauts were there in the space station when you were there for six months? When I—when we arrived, there were only two, and we come as three. So that makes a group of five for

00:52:11.390 - 00:52:20.860

three months. And then after three months, those two go home, and another three came up. So then we–we

00:52:20.860 - 00:52:38.000

become six. So yeah, it's usually between six, five, and seven. So my case, when we go there, arrived, we become five group. And in the middle, we switched to six-person crew. So do you have time to relax?

00:52:38.000 - 00:52:51.170

I mean, do you—I know you have lots of tasks, from morning till night. But do you–do you have time for recreational activities? And if that's so, what do you do? Yeah, each day, we are assigned to do

00:52:52.080 - 00:53:05.610

8.5 hours of work, which means, you know, we do exercise, and we do, you know, the breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But, you know, at the end of the day, we usually have like a couple

00:53:05.610 - 00:53:16.930

hours of free time. So people can call the family, or you can watch movies, watch TV, or want—you want—you can do whatever you want to do.

00:53:17.050 - 00:53:29.710

Some people like to read the paper book. I prefer the, you know, the electric version. But anyway, so, yeah, usually have a couple of hours of free time.

00:53:29.840 - 00:53:44.140

And the weekend, although sometimes we have to do scientific work, we usually have much relaxing time. And we usually do the cleaning, the house

00:53:44.140 - 00:54:02.150

cleaning, the wiping the wall, and do the vacuum, and– and do the trash management on the weekend. So usually Sun—Saturday morning we do cleaning, and from Saturday afternoon to all the way Sunday,

00:54:02.970 - 00:54:16.970

that’s–that’s free time. So sometime we take the picture of the earth to show the moon, or you can do like, you know, the long movie–movie nights.

00:54:17.470 - 00:54:30.640

Yeah, Friday night is our movie night. We watched a lot of movies, you know, Marvel’s or Disney’s or, you know, the Star Wars, those kinds of things. But yeah, we can have—yeah, it’s–it’s important to,

00:54:30.640 - 00:54:43.690

you know, switch, you know, the work to relaxing time. Otherwise, if you just do work, work, work, that will be very exhausting. So, I saw that you did grow some bok choy on the space shuttle.

00:54:43.720 - 00:54:55.220

Bok choy yes, yeah. Actually, that–that is a science work. We grow plants as the science. But we

00:54:55.220 - 00:55:11.470

were allowed to harvest, and some of the–the plants go back to ground as a science—scientific sample. We were allowed to eat the rest of them. So that's why those bok choy is very important, and

00:55:12.280 - 00:55:24.050

we just—we usually just eat it raw. You know, and we also have wasabi plants. Of course it's very sharp, hot, and–and that is very nice and we just–just eat it.

00:55:25.050 - 00:55:39.060

But one of our crew members—that–that was my third flight, but Dr. Shannon Walker, Shannon is a Rice alumni, and she's a very good cook.

00:55:39.400 - 00:55:59.410

So she find a way to use the, you know, those bok choy, and put it in aluminum pouch and add a little bit of vinegar and soy sauce, and leave it in the electric oven. Electric oven is—doesn't go up that high

00:55:59.470 - 00:56:13.180

temperature. It only goes up like–like 180 degrees. So, much less than the boiling temperature. But if you let it, you know, heat it up for–for whole day, that’s a very nice sautée.

00:56:13.900 - 00:56:26.560

So–so really enjoy those, you know, the bok choy sautéed. So the food on the Space Station were all planned, I’m sure, for six months diet.

00:56:26.850 - 00:56:34.630

So do you eat normal food like we do on Earth, or are they all—you know, in the old days, you see the little pouches of liquid, but I’m sure these days, it’s–it’s not that.

00:56:35.140 - 00:56:50.270

Yeah, yeah, and it’s a generous question because we—yeah, back in the days, in Apollo days, the Space Shuttle days, everything we eat is so called “space food.” Sometimes it’s in the tube, sometimes in the can, and

00:56:50.270 - 00:57:04.850

also the aluminum pouch, and we put the water, you know, basically freeze-dried items, so we put water and rehydrate. So that’s–that’s the standard. And still, that’s the main thing.

00:57:04.990 - 00:57:18.880

So we—most of the time, we–we eat space food. But we have—actually, we have a refrigerator on the Space Station. That means we can bring, to a

00:57:18.880 - 00:57:35.110

limited degree, we can bring regular food and also the fresh food. Fresh food meaning like–like lemon, onion, garlic, and orange as well.

00:57:35.490 - 00:57:55.510

So we just bring up and resupply cargo ship and store it in room temperature. And yeah, they—NASA always told us, “Eat within a week.” But we–we just keep it like full month or so,

00:57:55.510 - 00:58:08.020

especially lemon. Lemon is very nice, actually, so it doesn’t go bad. Orange sometimes you have to be careful, it get, you know, sometimes get bad. But lemon is very good.

00:58:08.500 - 00:58:19.690

Garlic, you have to be careful. And the garlic, I don't know why, but the Russian like raw garlic, they just eat. I cannot do that. But—so those things are very

00:58:19.690 - 00:58:34.600

refreshing. And now we are able to request cheese and sausage. That makes a very wonderful, you know, appetizer for the like weekend dinner.

00:58:34.800 - 00:58:47.960

So are your sensations different once you're in zero gravity? Do you taste the same as you're on Earth, and you touch and feel and see the same? Yeah, we–we–we usually feel

00:58:48.180 - 00:59:03.410

that we cannot taste like we do on–on the ground, meaning if you have the same level of sharpness, I mean hotness, I feel it's a little bit milder.

00:59:04.050 - 00:59:22.700

Mild, and we need more salt in space compared to ground. But–but, you know, other than that, you know, you know we can enjoy the spicy food as spicy, and we can taste the sweetness as sweet.

00:59:25.260 - 00:59:40.340

The doctor says because of the fluid shift, you know, we have more fluid, you know, like blood into your upper body. So it's almost like when you're—like when you're in–in

00:59:40.810 - 00:59:56.550

winter when you catch cold, you—sometimes you lose the–the tastebud. So that's–that's kind of like the same feeling. Yeah, I don't feel the, you know, the taste because of the cold. Like, yeah, COVID, that's like really

00:59:56.590 - 01:00:08.450

typical, so–so that's kind of like the same sensation. But other than that, we–we really enjoy. And yes, lemon! Lemon—again, I really love lemon in space.

01:00:08.450 - 01:00:27.770

So that's very sour taste, is very nice. And then I know your other spacewalk—and then you also were on the SpaceX Crew Dragon? Dragon—you were the crew of the SpaceX Dragon, would you like to talk about these two events? Yeah, let's start with Crew Dragon.

01:00:28.380 - 01:00:44.390

So obviously, the SpaceX is a newcomer in our business, and after Space Shuttle retires, there's no spacecraft from United States go to–to the Space Station.

01:00:44.670 - 01:00:58.530

We rely on Russian Soyuz for almost 10 years. And finally, SpaceX come up with their solution, the Crew Dragon, back in 2020, the

01:00:58.530 - 01:01:12.420

March of—the May of 2020. And we were able to lift off from Florida to the International Space Station. Our mission was the first operational

01:01:14.000 - 01:01:32.260

Crew Dragon mission, meaning that a six month crew were able to board on the Crew Dragon, go up, spend six full months, and come back. So obviously, you know, that's a new challenge

01:01:33.430 - 01:01:45.320

for SpaceX, and also the unknown territory for us as well. We knew that SpaceX were doing a good job. And we knew that the

01:01:45.420 - 01:01:58.230

test flights were successful. But the Crew Dragon was not proven to–to stay six months in–in the vacuum. So in

01:01:58.230 - 01:02:16.930

that sense, we were very nervous. And–and—of course, not just us, whole NASA community and also Japanese space agency, they were also very nervous if–if they can sustain six months of zero gravity and the vacuum

01:02:17.280 - 01:02:27.840

environment and safely come home. But we did a lot of testing. And again, we have a good conversation with the SpaceX engineering team.

01:02:28.700 - 01:02:44.460

And they knew there are challenges and they–they did a very good engineering decision. And yes, so we're–we're–we're lucky to come home safely.

01:02:45.030 - 01:02:59.810

And now we have a third mission in space, and the next month, there is a fourth mission going up. But we are fully comfortable with SpaceX Crew Dragon to send astronauts to Space Station.

01:03:00.730 - 01:03:20.290

So you were in space for six months twice, right? Yes, yes. So from 2009 to 2010, that's on the Soyuz. And this time, 2020 to 2021, and that's on the Crew Dragon. Was there—did you feel any difference in your own ability to

01:03:20.290 - 01:03:34.410

adjust? Were you experienced going the second time? Yeah, the—you know–you know... Obviously, the first time was the toughest. And the second mission, third

01:03:34.460 - 01:03:50.790

mission, as you gain experience, I feel easier to readapt to zero gravity. So, you know, obviously the first mission, you know, the two weeks is—but you know, every day was a new day.

01:03:51.350 - 01:04:04.150

So we were not able to find a good, you know, adjustment point until the very last day. I mean, so–so you have to—every day, you have to come up with some, you know, struggle, re-adaptation.

01:04:05.380 - 01:04:24.900

And on the second mission, as I told you, it usually takes like three weeks to a month to get used to—I mean accustomed to the environment. And the third mission, yeah, on–on the day of arrival, I feel like I was here for 10 years straight, because I

01:04:24.900 - 01:04:42.290

know—we use the same–same living compartments, and then we use the same kitchen, and our Japanese experiment module looks the same. Of course, but your–your body still need to adapt.

01:04:43.110 - 01:05:01.160

So although I feel comfortable, I still have ste—sleep problem, maybe for two weeks. And my appetite did not come back until maybe three—third week, so your body, it still needs time.

01:05:01.180 - 01:05:16.280

But psychologically, I–I know the environment, I–I knew I was able to spend six months here, and I'm ready to go on a third. Amazing. So what were some of the most memorable experiments you did

01:05:16.680 - 01:05:30.950

during the time you were in outer space? Well, bok choy is one thing, the space plant. Yeah, yeah, growing plants in space is very important. Yeah, that's—yeah, I didn't have much on my previous

01:05:32.200 - 01:05:41.620

mission 10 years ago. That time, I was also six months, but did not grow much of the plant. But this time, I—we have a lot, so...

01:05:44.210 - 01:06:01.200

And watch the plant grow is very emotionally stable, makes you stable, and cherish the plants and eating. Eating is another fun thing to do.

01:06:02.050 - 01:06:13.720

So we have—I believe once, one time, we had three different plant experiment going on in three different locations, so—but we fully enjoyed it.

01:06:14.810 - 01:06:34.370

The other science experiment I really like was deploying the small satellite. We're–we're talking about the size of—just like this, I have these Kleenex here, like this

01:06:34.370 - 01:06:52.830

size, so about four inches, four inches, four inches, four inches: cubic—small cubic. And that's usually manufactured by the university. And not just the university, but the university from a country

01:06:53.510 - 01:07:11.140

where they have never dealt with the space technology. Like my case, I have one from Philippine, and one from Uruguay, and I think another one from an Asian country, I forgot the name.

01:07:11.710 - 01:07:30.300

But anyway, so those small satellite, we call it the micro satellite, "microsat," that's a good way to—for students to get engaged in space technologies.

01:07:30.810 - 01:07:44.790

The real satellite is the size of like a big car. Of course, that takes, you know, the $100 million. And takes a lot of time, it's a lot of high tech to build one.

01:07:45.530 - 01:08:02.400

So it's only limited to, you know, leading countries like US, Japan, and Germany. But those small satellites, you know, every—any–any students or any university can–can make

01:08:03.500 - 01:08:18.140

one. And that's a great gateway for–for countries who has never chance to–to dealt with the space environment. So we were able to help those

01:08:19.900 - 01:08:38.190

emerging countries to–to study space technology, and young students, yeah, in Asian Pacific region countries, so they were able to enjoy the space–space experiment in their own laboratory.

01:08:39.930 - 01:08:58.120

That's wonderful. So you've also mentioned that you achieved a Guinness World Record because of the three different ways that you achieved entry. And can you talk us—talk to us a little bit about that? Yeah, yes. As I told you, my first mission, 2005,

01:08:59.170 - 01:09:18.370

was Space Shuttle. And the second mission was Russian Soyuz. And third mission, when I was assigned to the SpaceX, this Crew Dragon, I–I knew it's–it's pretty rare

01:09:19.580 - 01:09:34.990

to—for any astronaut or cosmonaut to fly three different spacecraft. We have a lot of—you know, over 500 astronauts so far, and most of them fly only one

01:09:36.770 - 01:09:49.880

spacecraft, and some of them fly two different: Soyuz and Shuttle is the most popular combination. But very, very few of us are able to fly three.

01:09:50.920 - 01:10:03.480

And I go to the space librarian at NASA and they searched and searched and it finally come up, and there's only two astronaut before me who flew three different vehicle.

01:10:03.610 - 01:10:19.880

Well, one is Thomas Stafford. He flew Apollo and the Gemini and I think it's... Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle. The second one was John Young, Mr.

01:10:19.880 - 01:10:33.900

John Young flew also Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. But after that, there's nobody. And I was very lucky to–to fly three different, and what's more interesting

01:10:33.900 - 01:10:50.570

is that those two, Thomas Stafford and John Young, basically did the splashdown and come back on the runway. I was able to fly Soyuz the second round, which means that was coming on

01:10:51.020 - 01:11:04.160

the ground, the soil. So if you look at how we touched down on the surface of the Earth, I was the first one to–to use three different

01:11:04.850 - 01:11:21.110

landing method. Hard concrete: that's the Space Shuttle, the ground, the soil: that's the Soyuz, and the water: that's Crew Dragon. So obviously, the Guinness World Records find that this is–this is the

01:11:21.110 - 01:11:36.630

first time ever, so that's the way—and we–we talk with the Guinness Record, then, what's the best way to describe, you know, the runway, soil, and water, but—you know, yeah, that's true, but–but rather than that, you know,

01:11:36.910 - 01:11:49.750

let's say that three different "entry method" to—from space back to ground, back to Earth. So that's–that's what the certification was about. Is there one way that you prefer over another?

01:11:50.990 - 01:12:06.770

Yeah, that's a million dollar question. People think, you know, that coming back on the runway, just like, you know, the airplane, is easiest. But my feeling is that Space—SpaceX Crew Dragon

01:12:07.880 - 01:12:19.500

did a very good job. Because yeah, we splashed down in Mexican Gulf, near Pensacola, Florida. But sea was very stable.

01:12:19.580 - 01:12:33.550

So where we splashed down, there's hardly no wave. So I feel like there's just, you know, kind of jumping into the–the small pool on your backyard, and feel—hardly feel any

01:12:33.770 - 01:12:45.840

impact force. So, yeah, if I want to do it again, I prefer SpaceX. Good for them to know. This is so interesting.

01:12:46.780 - 01:13:00.390

You have received many, many honors in your career, and I won't recite them all because we will put your CV up with your file. You have NASA Spaceflight medals, you have NASA Distinguished Public Service medals, a Medal of Friendship.

01:13:00.870 - 01:13:16.510

Are there any parti—is there—among this amazing list, are there some honors that really speak to you more than others? Yeah, and of course, every single recommendation is a high, highly—you know, I–I

01:13:16.860 - 01:13:29.110

truly feel honored to receive every piece of them. One thing that stood out in my mind is that I got Space Friendship Medal from

01:13:29.240 - 01:13:44.910

Russian Federation. So we—I was at the Kremlin. And–and President Medvedev gave me the medal. Yeah, so that was a good moment.

01:13:44.910 - 01:13:59.150

And it truly speaks itself. It's—space, it is for all about international friendship. That was 50 years anniversary of Gagarin,

01:13:59.660 - 01:14:15.750

who flew back in 1961, and 50 years, you know, great accomplishment of human endeavor to outer space, yet those 50 years is not just a competition, but it's more of a friendship.

01:14:16.360 - 01:14:34.860

And that was—that matter was all about friendship. And with the current situation, and Ukraine and Russia, and definitely feel this, definitely the–the meaning of our endeavor, that international friendship is the key for

01:14:34.860 - 01:14:49.830

success. Correct, so very true. And so I think you also mentioned Boy Scout was a very important influence in your young life. And I think you're–you're—are you involved with the Boy Scouts now?

01:14:50.010 - 01:15:02.400

Or what are some of your other activities beyond being an astronaut? Yeah, I still engaged in the Boy Scout activities. You know, every year, I go back to–to Japan.

01:15:02.400 - 01:15:16.180

And we have some summer activities. So, join with the Boy Scout group for summer camp, or the Jamboree, it's like a big gathering in the summer.

01:15:16.540 - 01:15:29.090

That's really fun to do. And it's–it's definitely rewarding to see the young astr—young Boy Scouts to engage in outdoor activities.

01:15:29.240 - 01:15:44.110

And also, they cultivate a good environment for international friendship. We have, you know, Boy Scout is all around the world. And for the Jamboree, we usually invite the foreign Boy Scouts to Japan.

01:15:44.110 - 01:16:00.220

So that's pretty good. I see. And so when your term–your term at NASA is now coming to an end, and you're returning to Japan. Was this a decision made by the Japanese Space Agency, that they need you go back and

01:16:00.710 - 01:16:13.350

maybe teach or, you know, share expertise? It's actually not really an agency, but much more of a personal decision. You know, I'm–I'm—again, I'm very

01:16:13.780 - 01:16:29.990

lucky to three—have three different space missions. And the last one was particularly rewarding because of the three different, you know, the spacecraft, three different landings, and I was able to

01:16:29.990 - 01:16:44.370

do four spacewalk. And at that time, was, you know, established the most number by any Japanese astronaut. So I feel very, how to say,

01:16:46.890 - 01:17:01.930

comfortable to–to—of course, I miss the life here. But, you know, I feel like, yeah, may be the right time to do different things, like, you know–you know, teaching or like, you know,

01:17:02.230 - 01:17:17.470

do the research type of activities, just like–like–like you do at Rice University. So yeah, I understand you have a wonderful professional career, all those archive and with the Asian American society.

01:17:18.270 - 01:17:35.730

So I want to do something other than, you know, me flying space. So, yeah, it could be–could be different challenges. And, of course, I'm pretty sure I'll miss the life here, I'll miss

01:17:35.730 - 01:17:45.190

the astronaut training. But again, at the same time, I'm really looking forward to starting a new life. That's wonderful. Will your family go back with you?

01:17:45.190 - 01:17:54.780

Will your daughters go back with you? Yeah, actually, yeah, they–they are already back. So I'm actually catching them up. So after the mission is

01:17:54.780 - 01:18:11.830

over, when I come back from, you know, Space Station, they–they go back first, because they–they have their own schedule. So last summer, they went back, and so yeah, yeah, definitely good time for me to go

01:18:12.390 - 01:18:24.940

back and catch up. So talking about with all of your experience, and insight, and flying, and with international cooperation among scientists, where do you think is the future of space exploration?

01:18:26.360 - 01:18:36.840

Yeah, and that's a good question. Everybody wants to know, the–the answer to that question. Obviously, right now, the International Space Station is the only

01:18:38.140 - 01:18:51.000

playground for us. And we are eager to expand our activities to–to moon, and around the moon, on the moon, and possibly

01:18:51.620 - 01:19:05.050

to–to Mars. And my feeling is that, you know, that around the moon is pretty close. And yeah, just like we did 50 years ago, the Apollo

01:19:05.700 - 01:19:22.730

mission on the–on the moon, lunar explorer mission will be around the corner. And NASA is working very hard this time, send women to–to moon, as a part of our Artemis mission.

01:19:23.440 - 01:19:39.700

And Japan is also very eager to have sustained—sustainable lunar base for–for science. And also China is pretty eager to have their own program on–on moon as well.

01:19:40.070 - 01:19:51.350

So the moon is the next playground for us. I don't know how long it takes that we can send people to Mars, but definitely that's in the

01:19:51.890 - 01:20:07.300

future goal, as well. So talking about the environment a little bit, spaceships are fueled by fossil fuel, and then—this is one question: do you think that perhaps there could be some other way to fuel the

01:20:07.300 - 01:20:22.150

spacecraft? Yeah, very good question. Actually, yeah, you're definitely right, you know, that we're using the fossil fuel to send people and send items to space.

01:20:22.700 - 01:20:38.570

Actually, the same thing happens in the avionic—aviation side, the jet aircraft, they are shifting from the fossil fuel to the sustainable aviation fuel, which means they are recycle the,

01:20:39.370 - 01:20:54.540

you know, our daily use, like cooking oil, or those kinds of oils, back to aviation grade fuel. So basically, it's zero emission, because it's already used once as a different purpose.

01:20:54.930 - 01:21:10.910

So those sustainable type of fuel should be the next step. And in the long term, we have to look for the, you know, the zero—not just zero emission, not just zero

01:21:11.030 - 01:21:24.320

CO2 production, but we may have to go to like, all-electric, using the solar power. Actually, the International Space Station, all the energy is produced by solar panel.

01:21:24.860 - 01:21:43.290

So, 100% solar, and we also recycle water 100%. So actually, environmentally, ISS Space Station is–is pretty good. But as you mentioned, right now, the rocket from ground to space, we still heavily rely on the

01:21:43.290 - 01:21:51.760

fos-fossil fuel. We have to tackle on those issue. I see. And you mentioned trash. Of course, when you're talking about trash, it's contained within the

01:21:51.800 - 01:22:04.820

spaceship. We understand there's a lot of debris in space. And there's danger of things, you know, hitting a satellite. How do you think that can be kind of helped? Yeah, those are—space debris is a huge concern.

01:22:05.600 - 01:22:22.150

Of course, it can pose direct threat to us. When I do the spacewalk, moving around the Space Station, I see a lot of small dents or holes on the outer wall, which

01:22:22.210 - 01:22:37.580

basically that the small debris hitting, it can penetrate through the–the metal surface. So, if it’s big enough, it go into the cabin, meaning we might be hurt, or we might lose air.

01:22:37.870 - 01:22:52.010

Yeah, either of them is pretty bad. So space station is direct threat—I mean, they’re threatened by the space debris. The other–other part is obviously, a few years ago, China

01:22:53.000 - 01:23:09.880

make a in-space experiment to d-destroy satellite. And in that process, they create a huge number of space debris. And the smaller debris can stay

01:23:10.540 - 01:23:23.800

long in–in space, which means that they cause a lot of, you know, the longer threat to other satellites, or–or us astronauts in space. So–so we have to monitor.

01:23:24.220 - 01:23:37.670

And we have to make sure that we–we make sure we don't make the situation worse, meaning we will not create any more small debris by ourselves. Can you collect the ones that are out there?

01:23:37.720 - 01:23:46.780

There's no way to collect them? Yeah, good question. Yeah, and there's a lot of project to–to just, like, the cleaning process and then the

01:23:46.780 - 01:24:01.480

sweeping across the—but so far, there's just too many, you know, it's—you know, and spread out. So it's–it's not an easy process to clean them all, that's tough.

01:24:02.940 - 01:24:14.070

So, we only have a few minutes left, there's so many questions. So, for a young person who is aspiring to become an astronaut, what would you counsel them to do? Let's say there are young boys or young girls who want

01:24:14.070 - 01:24:27.960

to eventually become an astronaut like you. What should they do? Yeah, well, obviously that for young generation, I think there's a lot of great chance for them to pursue their career professionally in space.

01:24:28.290 - 01:24:42.780

So, you know, when I was a small child in Japan, there's no Japanese whatsoever to fly in space. There's no profession, there's professional—no professional support to become an astronaut. And

01:24:42.780 - 01:25:00.330

right now, there are a lot of Japanese astronaut working, and also there's lots of Asian astronauts around the world. I am doing the–the President of the World Astronaut Congress Association of Space Explorers, Asian chapter,

01:25:00.670 - 01:25:19.030

which means we have like 20 Asian astronauts, and we are exchanging experience, and talk to the younger kids and stimulate their interest in space activities.

01:25:19.910 - 01:25:36.840

So my message is–is to aim high, dream big, and that space has a lot of capabilities. And unless you give up your dreams, someday–someday your dream will

01:25:36.840 - 01:25:46.550

come true. That-that's a wonderful, wonderful message. Well, thank you so much, Soichi. It's–it's an amazing experience to learn about what you've done.

01:25:46.550 - 01:25:58.820

Thank you for sharing your story with us. And we wish you the best of luck on your new career. And hopefully, we can come back and interview you in a few years to see what you're going to be doing. Oh, Anne, thank you very much.

01:25:58.820 - 01:26:13.200

It's a quite an honor to talk to you and best wishes for the–the Chao Center for Asian Studies. And hope we have another chance to–to chat with you and work with you in a different subject

01:26:13.250 - 01:26:20.450

as well. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Thank you, and bye bye. Bye bye.