Japan's Space Agency Names A Surgeon And A Scientist As Its First New Astronaut Candidates In 13 Years: Report

The two astronaut candidates chosen by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are Ayu Yoneda and Makoto Suwa. Yoneda is a surgeon and Suwa is a climate scientist.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Tuesday, February 28, named a surgeon and a climate scientist its first new astronaut candidates in over 13 years, news agency AFP reported. They were chosen from more than 4,000 applicants.

Who are the astronaut candidates? 

Ayu Yoneda is a 28-year-old surgeon who will become the third woman ever to join the space training programme. She works for Tokyo's Japanese Red Cross Medical Center. 

Currently, Japan has six astronauts and all of them are men. 

The other astronaut candidate chosen by the Japanese space agency is Makoto Suwa, a 46-year-old senior disaster risk management specialist at the World Bank. He sent his first application to JAXA to become an astronaut more than a decade ago. However, the application was unsuccessful. 

According to an AFP report, Yoneda said she was "elated and surprised" to learn that she had been chosen, and she felt a "sense of responsibility and mission". 

Suwa said he is so excited that he hasn't been able to speak. 

Yoneda and Suwa will now begin a two-year training programme. If they are successful, they could join International Space Station missions and also be sent to the Moon. If they are sent to the Moon, they would become the first Japanese astronauts to set foot on the lunar surface. 

In May 2022, Japan and the United States announced that they intend to send the first Japanese astronaut to the Moon. 

Earlier, Japan had said that it hopes to achieve a Moon landing by the end of this decade. 

What do the selected candidates intend to do as astronauts?

Suwa is an expert in ancient climates, and hopes to learn about how the climate of Mars evolved. According to the report, he said by learning about the Moon, by learning about Mars, humans will not only learn about those celestial bodies themselves but also about our planet, the Earth. 

Yoneda was inspired to become an astronaut after reading a manga comic about Japan's first woman astronaut, Chiaki Mukai, who was also a surgeon. 

JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa said the space agency aims to find astronauts who can bring space programmes closer to the public, and hence, will do another round of recruitment in around five years.