is a Japanese

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. Furukawa was assigned to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

as a flight engineer on long-duration missions

Expedition 28 Expedition 28 was the 28th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, and began on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the members of Expedition 27. The first three members of Expedition 28 arrived on the ISS aboard the Soyuz TM ...

/ 29, lifting off 7 June 2011 and returning 22 November 2011.

Medical career

Furakawa graduated from Eiko high school, Kamakura, in 1983; he received a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

degree from the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

in 1989, and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in Medical Science from the same in 2000. From 1989 to 1999, Furukawa worked in the Department of Surgery at the University of Tokyo, as well as the Department of Anesthesiology at JR Tokyo General Hospital, the Department of Surgery at

Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital Ibaraki may refer to any of the following places in Japan: * Ibaraki Prefecture, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan **Ibaraki, Ibaraki, a town in Ibaraki Prefecture **Ibaraki Airport, an airport in Omitama, Ibaraki **Ibaraki dialect, the dialect sp ...

and at Sakuragaoka Hospital.

NASDA/JAXA career

In February 1999, Furukawa was selected by the

National Space Development Agency of Japan The , or NASDA, was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1, 1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education, Culture, ...

(NASDA) as one of three Japanese astronaut candidates for the

(ISS). He started the ISS Astronaut Basic Training program in April 1999 and was certified as an astronaut in January 2001. Since April 2001, he has been participating in ISS Advanced Training, as well as supporting the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese ISS Experimental Module “ Kibo.” On October 1, 2003, NASDA merged with ISAS (

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Since 2003, it is a division of Japan Aerospace E ...

) and NAL (

National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan The National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) was established in July 1955. Originally known as the National Aeronautical Laboratory, it assumed its present name with the addition of the Aerospace Division in 1963. Since its establishment, it ha ...

) and was renamed JAXA (

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

). In May 2004, he completed Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer-1 training at the

Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for trai ...

(GCTC), Star City, Russia. Furukawa after landing

Furukawa arrived at the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late ...

in June 2004. In February 2006 he completed NASA Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training,

T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first, and the most produced, supersonic trainer. The T-38 remains in service in several air forces. The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the most ...

flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Completion of this initial training qualified him for various technical assignments within the NASA Astronaut Office and for flight assignment as a Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle missions. In August 2007, Furukawa served as an

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...

during the NEEMO 13 project, an exploration research mission held in

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

, the world's only undersea research laboratory. In 2013, Furukawa served as cavenaut into the

ESA CAVES CAVES, an acronym for Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills, is a European Space Agency astronaut training course in which international astronauts train in a space-analogue cave environment. Desi ...

training in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...

, alongside

Jeremy Hansen Jeremy Roger Hansen (born January 27, 1976) is a current CSA astronaut. He was selected to join the CSA in the 2009 CSA selection along with David Saint-Jacques. Prior to his selection as one of Canada's astronauts, Hansen was a Royal Canadia ...

, Michael Barratt,

Jack Fisher John Howard "Fat Jack" Fisher (March 4, 1939) is an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through for the Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Chicago White S ...

, Aleksei Ovchinin and

Paolo Nespoli Major Paolo Angelo Nespoli (born 6 April 1957) is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December ...

. He is scheduled to make a second long-duration flight to the ISS sometime in 2023.

Spaceflight experience

Furukawa was assigned as a flight engineer to the

/ 29 long duration missions. The

Soyuz TMA-02M Soyuz TMA-02M was a space mission that transported three members of the Expedition 28 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-02M was the 110th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft (first launched 1967) and the second flight of the improved Soyuz ...

spacecraft carrying Furukawa, cosmonaut Sergey Volkov and NASA astronaut Michael Fossum lifted off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome on 7 June 2011. Carrying the same crew, Soyuz TMA-02M undocked from the ISS at 11:00 pm UTC on 21 November 2011. The spacecraft soft-landed safely—albeit on its side—in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

at 2:26 am UTC on 22 November."3 Space Station Astronauts Land Safely in Kazakhstan"
Space.com, 21 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-22.

Personal

Furukawa was born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Kanagawa, Japan. He enjoys baseball, bowling, music and traveling. He is married and has two children.

References

External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Satoshi Furukawa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furukawa, Satoshi 1964 births Living people Aquanauts Japanese astronauts People from Yokohama Physician astronauts University of Tokyo alumni