Science

Onishi Encourages Yui in Mission Handover Ceremony on ISS; New Crew Member Will Stay on Station for 6 Months

From JAXA’s YouTube video
This video grab image shows Takuya Onishi, left, handing over a sash to Kimiya Yui, who recently began a six-month stay on the International Space Station, on Monday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, August 6, 2025

Astronaut Takuya Onishi, who will leave the International Space Station (ISS) this week, gave encouragement to his newly arrived fellow crew member Kimiya Yui in a handover ceremony held on the station on Monday evening.

Onishi, 49, who has been on the ISS since March, is scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday.

Yui, 55, and three other astronauts from the United States and Russia arrived on the ISS on Saturday aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft operated by U.S. company SpaceX.

“Take care of your health and do your best,” Onishi said at the press conference, handing a sash to Yui, who was beginning six-month stay on the station.

“Although there is no gravity here, I find this sash very heavy, as it is filled with [people’s] expectations and encouragement,” said Yui, for whom this is the first space mission in 10 years. “I will do my best to deliver good news to Japan.”

It was announced that Onishi will leave the ISS early Thursday morning to return to Earth aboard the same Crew Dragon spacecraft that brought him to the station. He is scheduled to splash down off the coast of California about 6½ hours after departure.

Looking back on his 4½ months on the ISS, Onishi said, “It was a short stay, but I think I fulfilled my important role as captain.”

This is the first time in four years that two Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronauts have been on the ISS at the same time. Soichi Noguchi, 60, and Akihiko Hoshide, 56, stayed in the station in 2021.