MONTHLY NEWS
December 1997

Doi Becomes First Japanese Astronaut to Spacewalk

Takao Doi became the first Japanese astronaut in history to venture outside his spacecraft on November 24 (November 25 Japan time) when he and fellow crew member Winston Scott from the United States successfully rescued a satellite that had gone out of control.

Doi was part of the multinational crew aboard the space shuttle Columbia, which blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in the United States on November 19 on a 16-day scientific research mission.

Doi was initially scheduled to test a crane and other equipment to be used on future international space missions. But he and Scott were also assigned to save the $10 million reusable research satellite Spartan; the satellite tumbled out of control after being released by Columbia on November 21, and attempts to salvage it with the shuttle's robot arm failed.

The daring rescue of a satellite by hand is the first for NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in five and a half years. It was considered dangerous because of the damage the 1,350-kilogram (3,000-pound) satellite could inflict on the astronauts and the space shuttle.

Experts noted that the maneuver demanded great precision and would have been difficult even for experienced crew members to undertake. The rescue required more patience than strength, though, since the astronauts had to wait for the satellite to spin into optimum position, with each rotation taking three minutes.

Three days after Spartan spun out of control, Columbia was back at the satellite's side, with Doi and Scott positioned on opposite ends of a platform spanning the cargo bay, their feet secured and their bodies leaning back to avoid being struck by Spartan.

After waiting for the satellite to tilt just the right way, Doi and Scott reached out and grasped the ends of satellite simultaneously. The two clung to the satellite as they lowered it into its cradle in the cargo bay.

With the help of the shuttle's robot arm, the satellite was brought back safely into the cargo bay, and the two spacewalking astronauts were back inside the cabin after seven and a half hours of moving around in space.

Photo: Doi (right) and Scott (left) preparing to catch Spartan. (Kyodo)