International Space Station 15 Years in Space

By November 2 the International Space Station has been in space for 15 long years. At dawn November 3, a press interview was held in the station in commemoration of the occasion. Japanese astronaut Kimiya Aburai commented:

"It is great that all of us with different level of skills come up here and cooperate as we do with due respect to respective cultures".

The International Space Station is a huge science laboratory about the size of a soccer ground cruising at an altitude of 400 km at 5 km per second. The long stay of space astronauts started on November 2, 2000. Aburai continued:

"Ten of us Japanese astronauts have stayed in space just over 1,000 days. As we challenge we have improved in our skills and won trust and respect from other countries. I'll make the best of the remaining days in space".

Of those who stayed long in space, Koichi Wakata stayed for four months from March, 2009, and completed the JM or Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" (Hope). The same year from December Souichi Noguchi stayed for five months to set the module for a full-scale scientific research.

From June, 2011, for five months Satoshi Furukawa experimented on himself as a doctor how space physically affects the human organism; Akihiko Hoshide successfully attempted a 21-hour-long extravehicular activity while in space for four months from July, 2012.

Koichi Wakata stayed in space for the second time in November the year before last for six months as skipper of the Space Station. From last July Kimiya Aburai is in space for a scheduled 5-month-long stay.
Two more Japanese astronauts are on line standing by for their turns in a long stay in space: Takuya Onishi for 6-month starting June next year and Nobushige Kanai also for 6-month from November the year after next.

News Source: NHK