Naoko Yamazaki was born in 1970 in Matsudo City, Chiba. In 1999, she was selected as an astronaut candidate, and was certified as an astronaut in 2001. In 2010, she participated in the STS-131 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a Mission Specialist, where she orchestrated cargo transfer work and operated the International Space Station’s robotic arm. YAMAZAKI and NOGUCHI Soichi—who was part of the crew for the long-term missions Expedition 22 and 23—became the first Japanese astronauts to stay on-orbit at the same time, undertaking various joint projects in the process.