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MEET OUR PROFESSOR - NAOKO YAMAZAKI

Naoko Yamazaki earned a Bachelor of Science degree majored in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tokyo in March 1993. She spent one year as an exchange student at the University of Maryland in the U.S.from 1994 till 1995. In March 1996, she earned a Master of Science degree majored in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tokyo. In April 1996, she started working for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (former NASDA). In February 1999, she was selected as an astronaut candidate by JAXA and was certified as an astronaut in September 2001.
In May 2004, she completed Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, Russia.
In February 2006, she was certified as Mission Specialist by NASA.
On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki was onboard Space Shuttle Discovery as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-131, an assembly & resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).She returned to Earth on April 20, 2010.
Yamazaki retired from JAXA on August 31, 2011 and has been serving as a member of Japan Space Policy Committee and an adviser of Young Astronaut Club (YAC), a visiting professor at Ritsumeikan University and Joshibi University of Art and Design, etc.