The International Space Station Program Swings into Full Gear

摘要

In November 1997, Astronaut Takao Doi walked out of the space shuttle, the first Japanese astronaut to perform a spacewalk. This memorable event attracted attention as one of the activities on the International Space Station program, which is being conducted through the cooperation of Japan, the U.S.A., Canada, Russia, and 11 European countries. More than 100 related activities are required to be carried out before the completion of the space station in 2003. In this time of activity by Dr. Doi, the machinery to be used in those frequent extravehicular activities were actually tested in space.