Dr. Koichi Wakata is a Japanese astronaut, and he experienced four space flights including two long-duration stays on the ISS. For the 39th ISS Expedition Mission, he served as the first Japanese ISS commander and took responsibility to lead ISS crew members and to ensure the success of the missions. Dr. Wakata also serves as the ISS Program Manager and Director for the JEM (Japanese Experiment Module) mission Operations and Integration Center for the JAXA Human Spaceflight Technology Department.