Mr. Wakata, a graduate of Kyushu University's Department of Engineering in 1989, visited his alma mater on the 23rd of January 2001. From the 12th to the 25th of October 2000 he made his second trip into space as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle 'Discovery.' On this trip, his job was to operate the shuttle's robot arm and his skill in doing so contributed enormously to the construction of the International Space Station.

At a private meeting prior to his speaking engagement, Mr.Wakata met with President Sugioka, Vice-Presidents Yada and Shibata, and Dr. Kajiyama, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and thanked them for giving him a CD that he took into space with him.

He said, "Thanks to your words of encouragement, I could perform my duties without any problems. The CD containing your messages encouraged me a great deal. I was very much looking forward to meeting you." President Sugioka answered "You are the pride of our university. I am very happy to welcome you here today."

At the Memorial Auditorium of Kyushu University, Mr. Wakata The astronaut Koichi Wakata is back from space spoke to an audience of around 1,200 people and showed them a video of his space flight.

"I am proud of having studied at Kyushu University. Some minor problems occurred in space, however, we were able to deal with them. Now I feel very relieved. From space, the earth in the daytime is a planet covered with water. It is mostly blue but we could see white clouds moving around the earth. In the Sahara Desert, we could see strong winds. At night, the earth turned black yet we could see many lights produced by human activities. We were all moved by these views and felt strongly that we must strive to preserve the environment of our home planet, the earth."

After his speech, he answered questions by some of the attending Kyushu University students and some high school students.

Photo courtesy of NASDA

A: No it isn't. But it is gradually improving. This time, I took along some Japanese food, instant Miso soup and rice.

A: I was working with people from various countries so I felt this was a great example of international cooperation. Greater understanding between different peoples can be built on cooperative efforts such as this.

A: Since I was a little boy it has always been my dream to be an aeronautics engineer. When I learned that Japanese people too could go into space, I wanted to go and so applied to join the space program. I have a strong desire to investigate the unknown world. Just as space is limitless, there are limitless opportunities to create technologies useful for human beings and to realize ones dreams in space.

A: At the moment, most of those who get to go into space have studied natural sciences but in the future those who have studied in other fields will also be able to go into space. Do your best to excel in your chosen field and you too may be able to go.

After his speech had finished, a lot of students came up to him to shake hands.

Koichi Wakata
Aug.1963	Born in Saitama, Japan
March 1987	Received B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Kyushu University
March 1989	Received M.S. in Applied Mechanics from Kyushu University
April 1989 to May 1992	Worked for Japan Airlines (JAL)
June 1992	Joined NASDA
Aug. 1992	Attended the 1992 NASA astronaut candidate training course
Aug. 1993	Qualified as a Mission Specialist(MS)
Jan. 1996	Flew on STS-72 as a MS (Japanese Space Flyer Unit retrieval. NASA OAST FLYER deployment and retrieval)
Oct. 2000	Flew on STS-92 as a MS	Photo courtesy of NASDA

Exchange of gifts. Mr. Wakata returned the CD and President Sugioka presented an ornament with his message(left). Mr.Wakata, giving a speech(right)