The first Japanese mother came to space

The Japanese astronaut and mother of a girl has just been selected as a flight crew member on the Atlantis spacecraft, the country's aerospace agency announced today.

Naoko Yamazki during the press conference (Photo: Publico.es)

This is a woman with the first child of the rising sun in space. Naoko Yamazki, the mother of a 6-year-old, will join the crew in space in February 2010 and the flight will last for two weeks.

" Once there was a time when we were women, it was difficult to balance between work and parenting ," said Yamazaki, 37, at a press conference. " My daughter started to understand the universe and the spacecraft . She told me 'It's time for you to ride the train, Mom', I'm really happy. "

Japanese women still lag behind men in many areas, such as business and politics. Currently, only 30% of mothers with children under 6 years old work, this rate is only half of that in the US.

Yamazaki is the second woman in Japan to fly to space. The first one is Chiaki Mukai, flying in 1994 and 1998. If both sexes are counted, she is the seventh.

During the flight, it is expected that Atlantis will transport materials to the ISS space station. This $ 100 billion station construction project is the result of cooperation between the US, Russia, Japan and Canada, which are still under construction in the last 10 years.