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Chiaki Mukai

Japanese - (JAXA)

Retired

Date of Birth: May 6, 1952
Age: 72


Chiaki Mukai (向井 千秋 Mukai Chiaki, born May 6, 1952, Tatebayashi, Gunma, Japan) is a Japanese doctor and JAXA astronaut. She was the first Japanese woman in space, and was the first Japanese citizen to have two spaceflights. Both were Space Shuttle missions; her first was STS-65 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994, which was a Spacelab mission. Her second spaceflight was STS-95 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. In total she has spent 23 days in space.

Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-65

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
July 8, 1994, 4:43 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-65 was a Space Shuttle program mission of Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 8 July 1994. The flight was commanded by Robert D. Cabana who would go on later to lead the Kennedy Space Center.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-95

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Oct. 29, 1998, 7:19 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-95 was a Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 29 October 1998, using the orbiter Discovery. It was the 25th flight of Discovery and the 92nd mission flown since the start of the Space Shuttle program in April 1981. It was a highly publicized mission due to former Project Mercury astronaut and United States Senator John H. Glenn, Jr.'s return to space for his second space flight. At age 77, Glenn became the oldest person, to date, to go into space. This mission is also noted for inaugurating ATSC HDTV broadcasting in the U.S., with live coast-to-coast coverage of the launch. In another first, Pedro Duque became the first Spaniard in space.

Low Earth Orbit
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Administrator: Hiroshi Yamakawa

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's national aero-space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.


Falcon Heavy
Success
13 hours, 36 minutes ago
Europa Clipper
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Europa Clipper is the first dedicated mission to study Jupiter's moon Europa. Mission is developed by NASA and comprises of an orbiter spacecraft, wh…


Starship
Success
1 day, 17 hours ago
Integrated Flight Test 5
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

Fifth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.


Long March 3
Success
4 days, 15 hours ago
WHG-03
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese communication satellite with name meaning "Satellite Internet - High Orbit Satellite 03" in Chinese. Details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Hera
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Hera is a space mission in development at the European Space Agency in its Space Safety program. Its primary objective is to study the Didymos binary…


Vulcan VC2S
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Certification Flight 2
Space Launch Complex 41 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Replacement Vulcan test launch with inert payload, experiments, and demonstrations for certification with the USSF after delays caused by payload tes…