>> STATION, THIS IS HOUSTON.
ARE YOU READY FOR THE EVENT?
>> HOUSTON, THIS IS STATION.
ARE YOU READY FOR THE EVENT?
>> PLEASE CALL STATION FOR A
VOICE CHECK.
>> STATION, THIS IS
[indiscernible].
HOW DO YOU HEAR MY VOICE?
>> JAXA, THIS IS STATION.
I HAVE YOU LOUD AND CLEAR.
>> HI, DR. WAKATA.
I AM THE MODERATOR FOR THIS
EVENT.
I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO TALKING
WITH YOU.
>> HI.
THIS IS KOICHI WAKATA ON THE
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR.
GOOD EVENING, JAPAN.
I'M ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO
TALKING TO YOU.
>> SO HE IS HEARING US.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY.
HERE WITH ME ARE A SINGER AND
T.V. PERSONALITY WHO HAS A
STRONG INTEREST IN SPACE AND
ALSO I'M JOINED BY AN ASTRONAUT.
>> HELLO, DR. WAKATA.
WHERE ARE YOU FLYING NOW, AND
CAN YOU SEE THE I.S.S. NOW?
>> THANK YOU, SHOKO.
I'M VERY HONORED TO TALK WITH
YOU.
THE I.S.S. IS NOW FLYING TO THE
EAST ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN.
WE CAN SEE THE EARTH VERY
CLEARLY FROM THE STATION.
>> HELLO, DOCTOR.
I'M ALSO PARTICIPATING AND I'M
LOOKING FORWARD TO TALKING WITH
YOU.
>> HELLO, YUI-SAN.
VERY GLAD TO HAVE YOUR SUPPORT.
VERY GOOD TO TALK TO YOU.
>> THE TWO ASTRONAUTS ARE
TALKING TO EACH OTHER.
SO LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION.
WELL, DR. WAKATA, YOU DIDN'T
HAVE A CHANCE TO DO E.D.A.
BEFORE, BUT THIS TIME, YOU HAD A
CHANCE TO DO E.D.A. TWICE.
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF THOSE
ACTIVITIES?
>> YES, THE E.V.A. WAS A LONG
TIME DREAM OF MINE AS AN
ASTRONAUT.
ON MY EXTENDED STAY ON THE
I.S.S., I WAS FULLY TRAINED FOR
E.V.A. AND FULLY PREPARED FOR
E.V.A.
SIMPLY, THE E.V.A. WAS NOT
PLANNED IN THE PREVIOUS FLIGHT,
BUT THIS TIME, I HAD AN E.V.A.
FOR 14 HOURS WITH NICOLE MANN,
AND THE PLAN WAS TO INSTALL A
NEW IROSA SOLAR ARRAY AS THE
PLAN IS TO USE THE I.S.S. UNTIL
2030, AND I'M VERY PROUD TO BE
ALLOWED TO PERFORM MY E.V.A.
THIS TIME.
>> THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK.
IN ADDITION TO SUCH IMPORTANT
MISSION, YOU ARE PERFORMING
VARIOUS MISSIONS ON THE I.S.S.,
AND THAT MAY INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY
DETERMINATION EXPERIMENTS FOR
LUNAR AND MARS MISSIONS THAT THE
AGENCY MAY BE CONDUCTING.
WHAT EXPERIMENTS ARE YOU
CONDUCTING?
>> WE ARE CONDUCTING VARIOUS
EXPERIMENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, EXTENDED GENERATION
PLANS, HUMAN SCIENCE ROVERS, AND
WE ARE DOING EXPERIMENTS THAT
REQUIRE TECHNICAL DATA FOR THAT.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE ARE
INVESTIGATING LIQUID BEHAVIOR IN
PARTIAL G ENVIRONMENT AND ALSO
KNOWN GRAVITY, ZERO GRAVITY ON
THE EARTH, WHAT KIND OF A
DIFFERENCE WE CAN SEE IN THE
COMBUSTION, SO ARTEMIS ONE WAS
LAUNCHED DURING OUR DAY ON THE
I.S.S.
WE FEEL THE TIME TO FLY TO THE
MOON IS APPROACHING, JUST AROUND
THE CORNER.
THE I.S.S. IS A PLACE AND VERY
IMPORTANT TEST BED FOR
CONDUCTING VERY IMPORTANT
EXPERIMENTS FOR LUNAR AND MARS
EXPLORATIONS, SO YOU ARE ALSO
CONDUCTING AN EXPERIMENT FOR
TOILETS, TO IMPROVE TOILETS, AND
THE ASTRONAUT SELECTION TEST IS
NOW IN THE FINAL PHASE.
WHAT KIND OF TESTS DO YOU
ACTUALLY HAVE FOR THE CANDIDATES
THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE TEST 30
YEARS AGO.
>> OH, SO IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO.
I HAVE MANY MEMORIES ABOUT THAT.
I'VE LEARNS A LOT FROM THOSE WHO
TOOK PART IN THE EXAMINATION
TEST, AND SOME OF THE THINGS
WERE SURPRISING.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD TO PLAN TO
FLEE FROM STAPRISON, AND WE HAD
FORM A CONSENSUS OF FOUR OR FIVE
PEOPLE.
I CAME TO KNOW A WONDERFUL
COLLEAGUE OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT
THE PROCESS.
I DON'T KNOW WHY I WAS SELECTED
AS AN ASTRONAUT, BUT I HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN TRYING TO TEST MY
LIMIT, AND I HAVE BEEN DOING
THAT FOR THE PAST 30 YEARS.
SO YOU ARE TRYING TO TEST YOUR
LIMIT.
THAT SOUNDS VERY COOL, BUT WHY
DO YOU THINK YOU WERE CHOSEN?
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR STRENGTHS
ARE?
>> IT'S HARD TO SAY IT MYSELF.
IT'S A MYSTERY TO ME, BUT MAYBE
I WAS FORTUNATE AND LUCKY, AND I
WAS SO FORTUNATE TO DO SUCH
WORK, SO I WOULD LIKE TO DO MY
BEST, AND I HAVE BEEN DOING MY
BEST TO ACHIEVE RESULTS.
YOU WENT TO SPACE FIVE TIMES AND
YOU HAVE BEEN MAKING GREAT
SUCCESS.
THE FIRST MISSION WAS JUST FOR A
SHORT PERIOD OF TIME IN THE
SPACE SHUTTING WITHOUT THE
I.S.S., THINKING THE
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION -- THEN IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE I.S.S. FOR
EXTENDED TIMES, AND EXPLORATION
TO THE MOON IS BECOMING A
REALITY, AND JAPANESE ASTRONAUTS
MAY BE LANDING ON THE MOON IN
THE FUTURE, SO WHAT DO YOU FEEL
ABOUT THE ARTEMIS MISSION?
THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION,
YUI-SAN.
LAST YEAR, WE CELEBRATED THE 30
ANNIVERSARY SINCE DR. MORI WENT
TO SPACE.
HE AND OTHERS STARTED THE SPACE
EXPERIMENTS, AND HE PARTICIPATED
IN THE I.S.S. PROJECT, AND ALSO,
WE CREATED THE KOBE MODULE, AND
JAPAN HAS BECOME A VERY RELIABLE
PARTNER IN THE I.S.S. PROJECT,
AND SO WE HOPE THAT THE JAPAN
WILL TAKE A MAJOR ROLE IN THE
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
SO YOU WANT TO GO TO THE MOON,
DON'T YOU?
OF COURSE.
IT'S A DREAM FOR ALL ASTRONAUTS
GOING TO THE MOON, SO I WOULD
LIKE TO AIM FOR SUCH
OPPORTUNITY, BUT WHEN I WAS FIVE
YEARS OLD, APOLLO LANDED ON THE
MOON, AND I HAD A DREAM -- THAT
WAS WHEN I FIRST HAD A DREAM OF
GOING TO THE MOON.
I'M
I'M QUITE ENVIOUS OF THE FUTURE
ASTRONAUTS FOR THEIR
OPPORTUNITIES IN SPACE TRAVEL.
MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN
FEELING SPACE AND SPACE CLOSE TO
THEM.
FURTHERMORE, THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THIS YEAR'S ASTRONAUT
SELECTION HAVE BEEN GREATLY
EASED, AND WE RECEIVED ENTRIES
FROM A WHOPPING 4,000 PEOPLE.
IN 1991, WHEN YOU WERE SELECTED,
THERE WERE 372.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE
DIFFERENCE?
SO 4,127 PEOPLE APPLIED FOR THIS
SELECTION PROCESS, AND THAT
SHOWS THE STRONG AND HIGH LEVEL
OF INTEREST AMONG THE JAPANESE
PUBLIC IN SPACE.
AND JAPAN PARTICIPATES IN THE
ARTEMIS PROCESS, AND I'M PROUD
OF THAT.
JAPAN IS GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE COLLABORATION FOR LUNAR AND
MARS EXPLORATION, AND I WOULD
LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT
EFFORT.
AND I HAVE MY EXPERIENCE IN
TRAINING AND PAST TRAINING, BUT
I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE
EXPERIENCE FOR THE NEXT
GENERATION, SO WE'D LIKE TO GROW
TOGETHER WITH THE NEW
ASTRONAUTS.
>> THE FINALISTS FOR THE
ASTRONAUT CANDIDATE SELECTION
WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON.
WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATION FOR THE
ARTEMIS GENERATION OF
ASTRONAUTS?
THE BASIC ABILITY FOR THE
ASTRONAUT REMAINS UNCHANGED, BUT
IN THE FUTURE, THE ABILITY TO
EXPRESS ONESELF OR COMMUNICATE
TO OTHERS WILL BE REQUIRED FOR
THE FUTURE GENERALRATION OF
ASTRONAUTS AS WE GO FOR THE
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION OF
SPACE EXPLORATION.
I AGREE THAT SUCH ABILITY TO
EXPRESS ONESELF AND COMMUNICATE
TO OTHERS WILL BE QUITE
NECESSARY, NECESSARY QUALITIES.
SO SUCH QUALITIES, I HOPE THEY
WILL IMPROVE AND GROW SUCH
QUALITIES.
ON THE OTHER HAND, WHAT WILL
REMAIN TO BE IMPORTANT FOR
FUTURE ASTRONAUTS?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> INCLUDING EMERGENCIES IN ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES, THEY NEED TO
GRASP THE SITUATION AND TAKE
NECESSARY ACTION, SO THEY NEED
TO BE CALM, EVEN IN CRISIS, AND
ALSO, TEAM MEMBERS.
THERE'S VERY LITTLE THINGS THAT
ONLY ONE ASTRONAUT CAN DO,
BECAUSE THEY'RE SUPPORTED BY THE
TEAM ON THE GROUND, SO THEY ARE
EXPECTED TO ACHIEVE RESULTS AND
SUCCESS AS A WHOLE TEAM, AS AN
ENTIRE TEAM, AND TEAM WORK WILL
BE QUITE IMPORTANT.
WELL, WE'D LIKE TO ASK MORE
QUESTIONS DR. WAKATA, BUT WE'RE
RUNNING OUT OF TIME, SO WOULD
YOU GIVE A MESSAGE TO THE NEXT
GENERATION OF ASTRONAUTS?
TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF
ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES, I'M
LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING THEM
SOON.
WHEN I LOOK BACK UPON MY LIFE, I
SOMETIMES STRUGGLED WITH MANY
THINGS WHEN I WAS YOUNG, BUT
THAT WAS BECAUSE I WAS SERIOUS
ABOUT ACHIEVING MY DREAM.
I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO THE NEXT
GENERATION OF ASTRONAUTS NEVER
GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM AND STAY
STRONG.
AND NEVER GIVE UP AND KEEP UP
YOUR ACTIVITIES.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF LUNAR AND
MARS EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES IS
JUST AROUND THE CORNER, AND I
THINK THAT SPACE DEVELOPMENT
WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE
INTERESTING.
IN THAT SENSE, THOSE OF YOU WHO
WILL BECOME ASTRONAUTS IN THE
FUTURE ARE VERY FORTUNATE, AND I
HOPE TO SUPPORT THEM, AS WELL.
AFTER GOING BACK TO EARTH, I'M
HOPING TO MEET THEM, AND FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GLOBAL SPACE
EXPLORATION, I HOPE THAT JAPAN
WILL PLAY ITS ROLE AND MAKE
CONTRIBUTION.
DR. WAKATA, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR YOUR TIME.
>> STATION, THIS IS HOUSTON
A.C.R., AND THAT CONCLUDES THE