Takao Doi and Naoko Yamazaki from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

NASA officially conveyed its decision to include a Japanese astronaut and its selection of veteran Doi, 51, as one of the crew members for the two-week mission, during a May 5 meeting between Kosaka and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, Kosaka said at a news conference.

Griffin said Naoko Yamazaki, 35, has been selected to join the mission as a member of the support crew on the ground, according to Kosaka.

It will be the first of the three missions through late 2008 to deliver components and complete Kibo, Japan's first manned space laboratory. The name means "hope" in Japanese.

It will be the second U.S. space shuttle mission for Doi, who became the first Japanese astronaut to work outside a spacecraft during his first flight in 1997.

Kibo will accommodate four astronauts who will conduct experiments in four facilities, including two labs.

Kibo's components will be sent to the space station in three batches -- first in late 2007, the second in early 2008 and the third in late 2008, according to an agreement reached in March by the heads of space agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States for completing the construction of the orbiting space station in 2010.

The March agreement by the ISS partners came amid pressure from Japan and Europe on NASA to launch their cargo as early as possible because the United States plans to focus on lunar and Mars missions with a new spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 13, 2006
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