Toyohiro Akiyama, the first Japanese citizen and first journalist in space, has died at age 84. He made history in December 1990 when he launched aboard Soyuz TM-11 and spent a week aboard the Mir space station, producing daily broadcasts for Tokyo Broadcasting System as part of its 40th-anniversary celebration.
Background
Akiyama's 1990 flight was a commercially sponsored mission under the Soviet Interkosmos program, representing one of the earliest examples of private-sector involvement in human spaceflight.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 2, 2026 at 10:47 PM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10