| Japanese astronaut Date of Birth: 28.12.1968 Country: Japan |
Akihiko Hoshide was born on December 28, 1968, in Tokyo, Japan. He completed one of the United World College's study programs in South-East Asia, Singapore, in 1987. In 1992, Hoshide earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Keio University. He continued his education at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, where he obtained a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1997.
In 1992, Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). He worked on the development of the H-II family of launch vehicles in Nagoya for two years. From 1994 to 1999, he played a pivotal role in developing the astronaut training program at NASDA's space center. Notably, he supported astronaut Koichi Wakata during his preparation for the Space Shuttle mission STS-72.
In February 1999, Hoshide was selected as one of three Japanese candidates for the International Space Station (ISS) program. He began basic training in April 1999 and received his astronaut qualification in January 2001. Subsequently, he completed advanced training in April. Hoshide contributed significantly to the development and deployment of Japan's Kibo experimental module and H-IIA Transfer Vehicle (HTV) cargo ship.
On October 1, 2003, NASDA merged with the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) to form the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In May 2004, Hoshide became a certified Flight Engineer-1 for the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft after completing training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.
Hoshide's first spaceflight was on May 31, 2008, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a Mission Specialist for STS-124. The shuttle docked on June 2, delivering the Japanese robotic arm JEM RMS, the pressurized module JEM PM, and the truss segments for the Kibo research module. undocked on June 11, and Hoshide returned to Earth on June 14, 2008, after 13.76 days in space.
Hoshide embarked on his second spaceflight on July 15, 2012, as a Flight Engineer-1 aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft. The crew members included Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Yuri Malenchenko.
Hoshide enjoys rugby, soccer, swimming, skiing, traveling, and flying airplanes.