Consulate-General of Japan in Houston

Japan’s a stronaut, Dr. Satoshi Furukawa, who spent 165 days onboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011 , gave a lecture at Space Center Houston on February 8th. This program was organized by the Consulate-General of Japan in Houston in partnership with Space Center Houston and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of the 19th Annual Space Exploration Educators Conference. Many kindergarten through high school educators from many states in America and countries like Japan, the U.K., Australia, Canada, and Mexico attended the keynote. Consul-General Yamamoto touched on the long-standing space partnership between Japan and America, before introducing Dr. Furukawa. (link)

Astronaut Dr. Furukawa began by showing footage taken from space and the launch of the Russian spacecraft, Soyuz.  He went on to introduce the Japanese experiments taking place on board the ISS and Japan’s contribution to the ISS through the technology of the spacelab module, Kibou and the HII transfer vehicle, Kounotori.  He also introduced the other active JAXA astronauts, their roles, and future plans.  The educators at the audience, posing many questions and exchanging comments with Dr. Furukawa, expressed their wish to share what they learned from the Astronaut in the classroom with their students.

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