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born December 27, 1970 is a Japanese engineer and former astronaut at JAXA. She was the second Japanese woman to fly in space. The first was Chiaki Mukai.
Yamazaki was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999 by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, now JAXA), attended the ISS Astronaut Basic Training program beginning in April 1999, and was certified as an astronaut in September 2001. Since 2001, Yamazaki has participated in ISS Advanced Training and supported the development of the hardware and operation of the Japanese Experiment Module. In May 2004, Yamazaki completed Soyuz spacecraft-TMA Flight Engineer training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City, Russia.
In November 2008, JAXA announced that Yamazaki would become the second Japanese woman to fly in space on STS-131, which launched on 5 April 2010. Since the Space Shuttle retired the following year in 2011, she was also the last Japanese astronaut to fly the Space Shuttle.Malik, Tariq "NASA Delays Space Shuttle Program's End to 2011". Space.com, July 1, 2010
On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki entered space on the shuttle Discovery as part of mission STS-131. She returned to Earth on April 20, 2010.Harwood, William. "Shuttle Lifts Off for Space Station", The New York Times, New York City, April 5, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-04-05.
Yamazaki retired from JAXA on August 31, 2011.
Since 2011, Yamazaki has been involved with promoting STEM activities as well as being a member of the Japanese government Space Policy Committee.
In July 2018, Yamazaki co-founded the Space Port Japan Association, which is an organization to support efforts to open spaceport in Japan through collaboration with companies, groups and government institutions. She is an adviser to the Young Astronaut Club, and Chairman of the Women in Aerospace program of the Japan Rocket Society.
As of July 2019, Yamazaki was a PhD student at the Intelligent Space Systems Lab in the University of Tokyo.
In 2007, Yamazaki provided the voice as herself in episode 7 of the anime Rocket Girls.
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