Noguchi to realise space dream

[Guest Glenn]

Source: AFP

 

July 24, 2005

 

CAPE CANAVERAL: It has been a long wait for Soichi Noguchi to carry out his dream first flight in space, but the Japanese engineer is confident he will finally make it when the US shuttle Discovery blasts off on Tuesday.

 

An aeronautical engineer with a degree from the University of Tokyo, the 40-year-old Noguchi was inspired by the launch of the first space shuttle, on April 12, 1981.

 

"At that time I think I set my goal as a future profession to be an astronaut," Noguchi recently told reporters, adding that his father, an engineer with Toshiba, had greatly encouraged him.

 

"He talked to me about a lot of small things, like fixing the (household) power and fixing the bike and all the way up to what's coming in new technologies," he added.

 

The 12-day mission represents a resumption of US space flights nearly 30 months after the Columbia disaster in February 2003.

 

During this mission, Noguchi is to make three space walks lasting some 20 hours with teammate Stephen Robinson.

 

The two will test repair techniques of the shuttle's thermal shield while it is in orbit, and will replace a broken gyroscope on the International Space Station. Noguchi will be the sixth Japanese to go into space.

 

Before NASA selected him in 1996, Noguchi worked five years for Japanese group Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries in aerodynamics.

 

He lives in Houston with his wife and three daughters, two of whom were born in the United States.

 

Noguchi played American football for two years at the University of Tokyo and is an accomplished karaoke singer.

 

And he has found his niche in the NASA family. Noguchi says he is confident that the US space agency has put its organisational problems linked to the Columbia tragedy behind it.

 

"We are confident this return to flight is going to be successful," Noguchi said. "All the engineers are speaking up and all the managers are listening to what the engineers are saying. I think it's a great change.