12 Facts About Takuya Onishi

Takuya Onishi is a Japanese astronaut selected for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 2009.

Takuya Onishi spent four months on board the International Space Station in 2016.

Takuya Onishi graduated from Seiko Gakuin High School in Yokohama in 1994 and received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical and Space Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1998.

Takuya Onishi joined All Nippon Airways in 1998 and was assigned to the Passenger Service Department, Haneda airport, Tokyo, where he was a check-in agent and assisted disabled people in boarding.

Takuya Onishi completed two years of basic flight training in Bakersfield, California and one year of advanced flight training in Tokyo.

Takuya Onishi was hired by All Nippon Airways as a first officer on Boeing 767 airplanes in October 2003, flying both domestic and international routes.

In February 2009, Takuya Onishi was selected by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency as one of the Japanese astronaut candidates for the International Space Station.

Takuya Onishi arrived at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in August 2009.

The mission successfully launched on July 6,2016, and Takuya Onishi was expected to spend four months at the ISS.

Takuya Onishi returned to Earth after 115 days in space.

In 2019, Takuya Onishi participated, with the colleagues Jeanette Epps, Joe Acaba, Alexander Gerst, Nikolai Chub and Joshua Kutryk, in the ESA CAVES training organized by the European Space Agency and held between Italy and Slovenia, becoming a "cavenaut".

In 2023, Takuya Onishi participated in the ESA PANGAEA training organized by the European Space Agency, held between Italy, Germany and Spain, together with colleagues Thomas Pesquet and Jessica Wittner.