Takao Doi
- STS -87 (1997)
- STS- 123 (2008)
Takao Doi (Japanese土井 隆 雄Doi Takao, born September 18, 1954 in Minamitama -Gun, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese astronaut. He is the first Japanese man who went on a spacewalk.
Takao Doi received in 1978 by the University of Tokyo an undergraduate degree in Engineering, a Masters in Engineering in 1980 and received his PhD in 1983 in Aeronautics and Astronautics. In addition, he received his doctorate in 2004 at Rice University on astronomy.
From Doi More than 40 publications in the fields of chemical and electric propulsion systems, fluid dynamics, microgravity sciences, and astronomy.
Takao Doi studied space propulsion systems as a research student in the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Japan from 1983 until 1985. He worked in 1985 for the Lewis Research Center of NASA as a research member of the National Research Council.
Doi entered 1985, the Japanese space agency NASDA ( National Space Development Agency ) by and have since worked in the Japanese manned space program. From 1987 to 1988 he conducted research in the field of fluid dynamics in weightlessness at the University of Colorado and 1989 as a guest scientist at the National Aerospace Laboratory in Japan.
Astronauts activity
In 1992 he was an alternate payload specialist for the Japanese Spacelab mission STS -47. In 1994, he worked as a project scientist at the International Microgravity Laboratory - 2 mission STS- 65th
STS -87
On 19 November 1997 aboard the space shuttle Columbia Doi as mission specialist for the first time into space. STS -87 was a Spacelab flight, the " United States Microgravity Payload 4 " bore the designation. This Doi led by the Mission Specialists Winston Scott two spacewalks ( EVAs ). In the first EVA, they began a the exposed at the beginning of the flight research satellites SPARTAN, who had run into an uncontrolled tumble. In addition, the first time you tried the so-called AERCam, a 40 -centimeter ball that comes with a position control, and a camera system, can explore inaccessible structures. Scott let him float from the payload bay and the pilot Steven Lindsey AERCam controlled by remote control from the cockpit. On December 5, the space shuttle landed at Kennedy Space Center.
STS -123
Doi was a mission specialist on the STS -123 flight, which brought the first part of the Japanese Kibo module and Canadian Dextre robot hand to the International Space Station in March 2008.
Private
Doi is married to Hitomi Abe.