Soichi NoguchiStatus: Active 4/15/1965 – Nationality: Japanese Type: Government First Flight: 7/26/2005 Last Flight: 11/16/2020Soichi Noguchi (野口 聡一 Noguchi Sōichi, born 15 April 1965 in Yokohama, Japan) is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA’s first “return to flight” Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was most recently in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the fifth Japanese astronaut to fly in space and the fourth to fly on the space shuttle.LaunchesSpace Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-114Soyuz-FG | Soyuz TMA-17Falcon 9 Block 5 | SpX USCV-1 (NASA Crew Flight 1)Japan Aerospace Exploration AgencyType: Government Abbreviation: JAXA Administration: Administrator: Hiroshi Yamakawa Founded: 2003 Launchers: H-IICountry: JPNThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan’s national aero-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 the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.