Japanese Astronaut Koichi Wakata assumed command of the International Space Station on Sunday March 09,2014, the first Japanese national to oversee a manned space mission.
"I am humbled to assume the command of the space station," Koichi Wakata said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on NASA Television.
Outgoing station commander Oleg Kotov, flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, both from Russia, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins are due to depart the orbital outpost on Monday.
Their replacements arrive on March 26,2014
Japanese Astronaut Koichi Wakata had been a space station flight engineer since he and two crewmates arrived on Nov 07,2013
Along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Mr Wakata is scheduled to remain aboard the station until mid-May 2014
Koichi Wakata's command marks just the third time the station is being overseen by a crewmember who is not from NASA or the Russian Space Agency, the two primary partners of the 15-nation project.
Canadian Chris Hadfield served as commander from March to May 2013.
European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne led a station crew in 2009.
ISS , a $100 billion research laboratory, flies about 260 miles (about 420 km) above Earth. It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
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