17 Facts About Naoko Yamazaki

1.

Naoko Yamazaki is a Japanese engineer and former astronaut at JAXA.

2.

Naoko Yamazaki was the second Japanese woman to fly in space.

3.

Naoko Yamazaki spent two years of her childhood in Sapporo.

4.

Naoko Yamazaki joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan in 1996 and was part of the development team for the system integration of the Japanese Experiment Module.

5.

Naoko Yamazaki worked on the JEM failure analysis and creating initial operation procedures.

6.

Naoko Yamazaki was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999 by the National Space Development Agency of Japan, attended the ISS Astronaut Basic Training program beginning in April 1999, and was certified as an astronaut in September 2001.

7.

Since 2001, Naoko Yamazaki has participated in ISS Advanced Training and supported the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese Experiment Module.

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8.

In May 2004, Naoko Yamazaki completed Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, Russia.

9.

In June 2004, Naoko Yamazaki arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to begin Astronaut Candidate Training school, where she was assigned to the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch.

10.

Naoko Yamazaki was selected as a NASA mission specialist in 2006.

11.

In November 2008, JAXA announced that Naoko Yamazaki would become the second Japanese woman to fly in space on STS-131, which launched on 5 April 2010.

12.

Since 2011, Naoko Yamazaki has been involved with promoting STEM activities as well as being a member of the Japanese government Space Policy Committee.

13.

In July 2018, Naoko Yamazaki co-founded the Space Port Japan Association, which is an organization to support efforts to open spaceports in Japan through collaboration with companies, groups and government institutions.

14.

Naoko Yamazaki is an adviser to the Young Astronaut Club, and Chairman of the Women in Aerospace program of the Japan Rocket Society.

15.

Naoko Yamazaki was married to Taichi Naoko Yamazaki and the couple have two children; they were divorced in February 2012.

16.

Naoko Yamazaki enjoys scuba diving, snow skiing, flying and music.

17.

In 2007, Naoko Yamazaki provided the voice as herself in episode 7 of the anime Rocket Girls.