Sôichi Noguchi Biography
Soichi Noguchi is a former JAXA astronaut and Japanese aeronautical engineer. His first spaceflight was aboard STS-114 on July 26, 2005, for NASA’s first “return to flight” Space Shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster. He also spent time in space as a member of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on June 2, 2010.
How old is Sôichi Noguchi? – Age
He is 57 years old as of 15 April 2022. He was born in 1965 in Yokohama, Japan.
Sôichi Noguchi Family – Education
He was born to Mikio Noguchi. Noguchi graduated from Chigasaki-Hokuryo High School (Chigasaki, Kanagawa) in 1984 and then attended the University of Tokyo, where he earned a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1989 and an M.S. degree in 1991. In 2020, he will also receive a Ph.D. in Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Tokyo.
Sôichi Noguchi Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $5 Million.
Sôichi Noguchi Astronaut
In June 1996, Noguchi was chosen as an astronaut candidate by Japan’s National Space Development Agency (now JAXA). He reported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August 1996 for astronaut training. After two years, Noguchi was certified as a mission specialist and received training on Russian space systems at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in 1998. He was tasked with providing technical support for the International Space Station’s Japanese Experiment Module. Noguchi participated in the ESA CAVES training in Sardinia in 2013, alongside David Saint-Jacques, Andreas Mogensen, Nikolai Tikhonov, Andrew Feustel, and Michael Fincke.
Sôichi Noguchi STS-114
As a mission specialist, Noguchi was assigned to the crew of STS-114, which was scheduled to launch to the ISS aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2003. However, on its way back to Earth in February 2003, STS-107 disintegrated, destroying the Space Shuttle Columbia and killing all seven astronauts on board. To ensure the flight’s safety, NASA astronauts Charles Camarda, Wendy Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas were added to the crew. The crew docked to the ISS on July 26, 2005, and performed the first-ever rendezvous pitch maneuver, allowing the two crew members aboard the station to photograph and observe the shuttle’s heat shield.
On August 9, 2005, Noguchi and his crewmates returned to Earth, carrying over 7,055 pounds of equipment and trash from the station inside a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Following STS-114, Noguchi was assigned as JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata’s backup ISS Flight Engineer. He was then assigned to the Expedition 22/23 crew of the International Space Station, alongside Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer. The crew of Expedition 22 was visited by Space Shuttle Endeavour during its penultimate flight, STS-130, which delivered the Node 3 module and the Cupola to the station.
Sôichi Noguchi Expedition
Noguchi was assigned to the Expedition 22/23 crew, which included Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer. They launched on Soyuz TMA-17 on December 21, 2009, becoming the first JAXA astronauts and the second Japanese citizens to fly on a Soyuz spacecraft. They flew free for two days before docking with the ISS and joining the Expedition 22 crew, which included American Commander Jeff Williams and Russian flight engineer Maksim Surayev. The crew of Expedition 22 was visited by Space Shuttle Endeavour during its penultimate flight, STS-130, which delivered the Node 3 module and the Cupola to the station. They were joined on Expedition 23 by Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, as well as American astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.
Atlantis launched to the station near the end of Expedition 23, carrying the Russian Rassvet module, marking the first time two Japanese citizens were in space at the same time. Noguchi undocked from the station and returned to Earth on June 1, 2010, bringing his total time in space to 177 days. On November 7, 2017, JAXA announced that Noguchi had been assigned to the Expedition 62/63 crew as a flight engineer, with a launch date of the end of 2019.
He was assigned to SpaceX Crew-1, the first operational flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft, in March 2020. On November 15, 2020, he will launch alongside NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker. On March 5, 2021, during his third stay in space, he conducted his fourth career spacewalk with Kathleen Rubins, spending nearly 7 hours outside the ISS. He currently holds the world record for the longest period of time between two consecutive spacewalks by the same person (15 years and 214 days).
