JAXA Astronaut & NASA Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki to chair IIMB’s ‘Tatsujin-Speak’ webinar on January 22
New Delhi: The India Japan Study Centre (IJSC) at IIM Bangalore will host former Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Astronaut and NASA Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki San as the next speaker for its ‘Tatsujin-Speak’ seminar/webinar series. Yamazaki San will be giving a one-hour virtual talk titled “#Space4SDGs; What Can Space Science and Technology Teach Us about Sustainability” on 22nd January 2021 at 3.30 PM IST.
Register for the talk at: https://bit.ly/3nsBjLi
The lecturer will also be livestreamed on: https://youtu.be/LyN3aXZCK0A
Yamazaki San would talk about how now, more than ever before in the history of mankind, human beings should use the pandemic to focus on the significance of sustainable development and living. “It is the same on-board the International Space Station (ISS). We recycle various resources and keep balance on-board the ISS. Sharing space science and technologies, I would like to point out the importance of considering our planet as Spaceship Earth,” says Naoko Yamazaki.
Speaker Details
Naoko Yamazaki was a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, space scientist, and mission specialist who served on-board NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery STS-131 and the International Space Station (ISS).
A University of Tokyo Alum and a qualified Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer, Naoko Yamazaki San is the second Japanese woman to fly to space for assembly and resupply operation to the ISS in 2010 and returned after spending about 15 days up in space. After retiring from JAXA, Yamazaki San continued her research studies at the Intelligent Space Systems of University of Tokyo since December 2010 and has been involved with promoting STEM activities as well as being a member of the Japanese government Space Policy Committee. Yamazaki San has dedicated herself to further various social and scientific causes, and presently serves as an Earthshot Prize council member, which is a global initiative to solve pressing environmental issues, and reward sustainable innovation. As an advocate for the strong need for sustainability, she has lent her experience in the education for sustainable development drive and the study of energy situations. She is also a member of Space Policy Committee of the Cabinet Office, Japan, and advisor to the Young Astronaut Club, and the chairperson of “Sorajo” (Women in Space), a step to promote women in STEM fields under the Japanese Rocket Society.
Passionate about the future of space travel, she is the co-founder of Space Port Japan, an organization with a focus on exploring commercial space travel in Asia. She envisions a future where journeying beyond the earth is as accessible as boarding the next plane, and of course, a near future where she could revisit space.