New NASDA ISS Astronaut named: Naoko Sumino

An astronaut candidate of the National Space Development Agency of
Japan(NASDA), Naoko Sumino, completed all of the original training plan and
have been qualified as an International Space Station (ISS) astronaut on
September 26, 2001, followed by the examination regarding the astronaut
qualification on September 21,2001. NASDA has been conducting Basic Training
for astronaut candidates for the ISS since April, 1999.

Sumino will participate in the subsequent overall ISS training(Advanced
Training), which will be conducted in Japan and countries participating in
the ISS program. She will also support development of Japanese Experiment
Module(Kibo). After she is assigned ISS flight, she will participate in the
training of individual crewmembers’ roles for her own specific tasks during
the mission(Increment-Specific Training) and prepare for the flight.

Basic Training is based on an international guidelines specified by the
space agencies(Japan, the US, Canada, European countries and Russia). The
guidelines are covering the necessary ISS training fundamental contents,
such as scientific and engineering knowledge, techniques, language skills,
physical conditioning and mental attitude.

In the past, Japanese astronauts (Mamoru Mohri, Chiaki Mukai, Takao Doi,
Koichi Wakata and Soichi Noguchi) have completed the training conducted by
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On the contrary,
together with Satoshi Furukawa and Akihiko Hoshide, Sumino is an astronaut
to have completed the Basic Training by Japan and be qualified as an
astronaut.