SpaceX Crew-1 Dragon returned to Earth today!

Crew-1 Dragon (L-R): Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, Soichi Noguchi

The crew of SpaceX Dragon Resilience splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico this morning just before 3am May 2, 2021.  The returning astronauts are Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi.  Launched November 15, 2020, they spent 168 days in space, all but one of those days on the International Space Station.  They completed 2688 orbits of Earth and traveled 71,242,199 statute miles.   

Discovery (STS-114) launched 2005

Back (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi 

Front (L–R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

STS-114 mission patch

Discovery (STS-114), launched July 26, 2005 to the International Space Station, was the "Return to Flight", the first space shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During Discovery's liftoff, video footage showed a piece of debris separating from the external tank, which was caused the Columbia disaster.  As a result, NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could modify the design.  Shuttle flights resumed a year later in July 2006.

STS-114's crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Soichi Noguchi (JAXA), Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda.  It was the second mission to be commanded by a woman, Eileen Collins, who also commanded STS-93. 

Three EVAs were performed by Robinson and Noguchi. 

Happy birthday, JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki!

Naoko Yamazaki, born December 27, 1970 in Matsudo City, Japan, is an astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131) in April 2010.  She is the second Japanese woman in space after Chiaki Mukai.  STS-131 was the first time two Japanese astronauts were in space at the same time: Yamazaki on Discovery and Soichi Noguchi on the International Space Station.

Soyuz TMA-17 launched 2009

L-R: Tim Creamer, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-17, the 104th flight of the Soyuz program, launched three crew members of Expedition 22 to the International Space Station, December 20, 2009.  On board were Commander Oleg Kotov (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Timothy Creamer (NASA) and Soichi Noguchi (JAXA).

Soichi Noguchi is the second Japanese astronaut, but the first from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).  Toyohiro Akiyama, the first Japanese in space, went up in 1990-1991.  JAXA was founded in 2003.

Soyuz TMA-17 returned to Earth, landing on May 26, 2010.

Space Shuttle Discovery "Return to Flight" launched 2005

STS-114 Crew - Back row (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi.

Front Row (L-R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off July 26, 2005, the “Return to Flight” since it was the first space shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During the launch, video footage showed debris separating from the external tank.  NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could make additional modifications to the hardware.  Shuttle flights resumed on July 4, 2006 but part of that delay was due to Hurricane Katrina.

Its crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James M. Kelly, Mission Specialist 1 Soichi Noguchi (courtesy of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA), Mission Specialist 2 Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist 3 Andrew S. W. Thomas (first Aussie in space back in 1996), Mission Specialist 4 Wendy B. Lawrence and Mission Specialist Charles J. Camarda.

They performed 3 EVAs over the course of 8 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes.