{"id":770684,"date":"2023-10-27T12:54:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T16:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=770684"},"modified":"2023-10-27T12:54:38","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T16:54:38","slug":"nasa-jaxa-benefit-from-collaborative-fellowship-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=770684","title":{"rendered":"NASA, JAXA Benefit from Collaborative Fellowship Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Katherine Cook, fourth from the left, attends a welcome reception for the 26th class of Mansfield Scholars at the Iikura House in Japan on Sept. 1, 2022. The reception was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Mansfield Foundation, and the National Personnel Authority of Japan.<\/div>\n
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A yearlong journey of cultural and professional development overseas has a NASA Deep Space Logistics employee excited about current and future collaboration with one of America\u2019s key international partners in the agency\u2019s Artemis<\/a> program.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katherine Cook, who develops cargo delivery services for NASA\u2019s Gateway<\/a>, recently returned to the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after an immersive experience in Japan. There, she collaborated with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), government ministries contributing to Japan\u2019s space activities, and The National Diet\u2019s House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

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Katherine Cook speaks at Kumamoto University Graduate School for Science and Technology in Japan on Dec. 16, 2022. The university is located on Kyushu, the southernmost main island of Japan.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEverything I did involved Artemis and human exploration,\u201d Cook said. \u201cDeveloping technologies for Moon to Mars is challenging, but if we can find a good balance of leveraging the strengths of each partner and continue to evolve the partnership, we\u2019ll be able to share knowledge in an even more integrated way.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As part of her trip, Cook spent about five months at the Tsukuba Space Center, approximately one hour north of Tokyo, working under JAXA Vice President and Director General for Human Spaceflight Technology Hiroshi Sasaki. She partnered with JAXA subject matter experts to host themed discussions for the directorate team, sharing and discussing ideas about the U.S and Japanese approaches, including future partnering opportunities. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Her research themes included: NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars objectives<\/a>; commercial capabilities<\/a> such as commercial low Earth orbit development<\/a>; lunar surface transportation such as rovers<\/a> and utility vehicles; lunar in-situ resource utilization, human landing systems, and science priorities to enable human exploration<\/a> to the Moon and beyond. This required intense language training \u2013 before and throughout Cook\u2019s trip \u2013 so she could understand, write, and speak Japanese with an audience ranging from students and coworkers to Japanese dignitaries, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi and JAXA President Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On June 15, 2022, Koji Tomita (fourth from the left), ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States, hosts six members of the Mansfield Fellowship, including NASA\u2019s Katherine Cook, fifth from the left, in Washington, D.C., before their departure to Japan.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI think a lot of growth came out of challenging myself \u2013 both in learning more about NASA and U.S. agencies collaborating on space and learning about it deeply enough to explain it and communicate it in a succinct way that could make it through translation,\u201d Cook said.<\/p>\n

Cook was just the third NASA person selected in the nearly 30-year history of the Mansfield Fellowship, a program named for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield.<\/p>\n

Invited to lecture at several university graduate programs, Cook was inspired by students\u2019 interest in NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars plans, as well as their knowledge and in-depth questions. Her interaction with Japanese colleagues was equally positive, as they welcomed her to their group with open arms.<\/p>\n

During the Artemis I launch in November 2022, Cook invited members of the JAXA human spaceflight team to a launch viewing party. Aware that she was disappointed about missing the launch live, they blew her away by showing up in great numbers, doling out high-fives and ecstatically cheering on the launch in front of a big screen TV at the Tsukuba Space Center.<\/p>\n

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After a ride on the new Superconducting Maglev, the world\u2019s fastest bullet train that travels up to 311 mph and operates on a magnetic levitation railway system, Mansfield Fellows stop by a convenience store for a drinkable ice cream treat on May 18, 2023. NASA\u2019s Katherine Cook is pictured third from the left.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOne thing that leaves an impression on you from Japan is their hospitality. The word for it is \u2018omotenashi,\u2019\u201d Cook said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just a word; it\u2019s culturally ingrained in how they interact with each other and the level of consideration that they put into everything they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enriched technically, culturally, and spiritually from her transformative experience in Japan, Cook returned to NASA \u201cforever changed.\u201d She learned a great deal about science, life, and her own agency. She even picked up a saying that she incorporated into her daily work routine. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIn Japan, at the end of every day, you say, \u2018Otsukaresama deshita,\u2019 which means, \u2018Thank you for your hard work.\u2019 When you pass a coworker in the hall and when you toast in celebration with coworkers, you say \u2018Otsukaresama des,\u2019 \u201d Cook said. \u201cEven still, when I meet with my Japanese counterparts, I will often say it. And it reminds me to carry that appreciation of my team throughout my day back at NASA. The simple phrase bonds us all together across the international Artemis work we do.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\n Click here for original story, NASA, JAXA Benefit from Collaborative Fellowship Experience<\/a>
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\nSource: NASA Earth News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Katherine Cook, fourth from the left, attends a welcome reception for the 26th class of Mansfield Scholars at the Iikura House in Japan on Sept. 1,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":615444,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-770684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=770684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/615444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=770684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=770684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=770684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}