Koichi Wakata embarked on his fifth space mission, marking a new record among Japanese astronauts, aboard a U.S. SpaceX ship that was successfully launched from Florida on Wednesday.
The 59-year-old is one of the four astronauts taking part in NASA's fifth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station using the U.S. commercial spacecraft. The team will travel to the orbiting laboratory for a six-month science and technology research mission.
Wakata's four previous space flights include U.S. Space Shuttle flights in 1996, 2000, and 2009, and a Russian Soyuz flight in 2013. It will be his third long-term expedition at the ISS.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, developed the Crew Dragon as a successor to NASA's costly Space Shuttle transportation system that was in service for 30 years through 2011.
Following its first manned test flight in May 2020, the Crew Dragon has continued to send astronauts to the ISS. Two other Japanese astronauts -- Soichi Noguchi, 57, and Akihiko Hoshide, 53 -- have been on board previous flights.
The other members of the latest SpaceX Crew-5 mission are two NASA astronauts -- spacecraft commander Nicole Mann and pilot Josh Cassada -- as well as Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
It is the first spaceflight for Mann, Cassada and Kikina, according to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Wakata and Kikina will serve as mission specialists.
