Debra Rahn
Headquarters, Washington, DC                April 12, 2001
(Phone:  202/358-1638)

Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone:  281/483-5111)

RELEASE:  01-72

JAPANESE ASTRONAUT TO VISIT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

     Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, from the National Space 
Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), has been named to the 
crew of STS-113 and is expected to fly into orbit aboard the 
Space Shuttle Endeavour in July 2002.

This will be Noguchi's first flight into space, and he will be 
the fifth Japanese astronaut to fly aboard the shuttle. 
Noguchi will be the second Japanese astronaut to visit the 
International Space Station, adding to the Japanese 
contributions to the assembly and operation of the most 
significant science and technology project ever undertaken.

The STS-113 mission, a Utilization and Logistics Flight (ULF-
1), is planned for 10 days with a crew of made up of seven 
astronauts. Endeavour will carry experiment and resupply 
equipment in the Multipurpose Logistics Module to the 
International Space Station. Two space walks also are planned.  
Noguchi is the first crew member to be named to this flight. 
The other crew assignments have yet to be determined.

Prior to becoming an astronaut, Noguchi joined Ishikawajima-
Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. In 1991. He was selected as 
an astronaut by the NASDA in 1996 and reported to NASA's 
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, later that year. 

Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is 
qualified as a mission specialist. While waiting for his 
flight assignment, Noguchi was assigned technical duties in 
the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch.

A complete list of astronauts and their biographical 
information is available on the Internet at: 

             http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
 
                        -end-