Reviewing "Come to Space!" (By: Yuto.I)

If I were to ask you the question, “What do you know about astronauts,” how would you answer? Would you say, “They go outer space in rockets,” or “They work for NASA”? Unless you are a space-loving person, you most likely don’t know a lot about this profession. In this book, 宇宙においでよ (Come to Space!) 野口聡一 (Soichi Noguchi), a former Japanese astronaut , shares about his first 15-day trip to space and teaches readers about different things in space. He also goes on to talk about how he got there in life and discusses the future of astronauts and space. One disclaimer: This book is in complete Japanese and unfortunately does not have an English version.

In the first section, Noguchi talks about his first ever flight to outer space starting from takeoff all the way to landing. First, he goes into detail about the lift off and entering space, talking in detail about how he felt worried but at the same time extremely excited to go into space. He defines terminology such as “negative return” and “3G” as well as giving readers an 8.5-minute timeline of events before entering space. Next, he talks about the couple of days of living in the tent-like space shuttle, between getting to the ISS (International Space Station). This part was my favorite of this section because he talks about major events such as eating, sleeping, and most importantly using the bathroom. He gives many fun facts, my favorite being that NASA had worked with Nissin Food Company to create cup ramen to be eaten in space. After that, Noguchi tells readers about his most important task in space, the EVA (Extravehicular Activities), where he goes outside of the space station for maintenance on the station, while being one rope away from death. Finally, he talks about returning to Earth and going back to his normal life. This section has many photos from the trip and illustrations explaining concepts making it easier for readers to visualize and understand.

As we enter the next section, Noguchi talks about his journey to space beginning from his childhood. Since he was little, he used to move due to his father’s work, allowing him to get used to different environments. He also liked the idea of being in a different world, building secret bases, causing him to fall in love with English and the USA. On April 12^th, 1981, when the first space shuttle had been launched Noguchi was shocked, not only of the space shuttle itself but also about the fact of going to space was going to be an actual job. Learning about the Aerospace science course in Kyoto University he decided to apply there and ended up getting rejected. Contemplating on why he failed, he concluded that he did not spend his three years of high school (the Japanese school system has three years in high school) wisely and did not work hard enough. Going back to high school (in Japan if you are rejected from all colleges applied to, you can choose to spend another year in high school), he researches more about which college would be the best for him and works hard day and night, leading him to be ultimately accepted into Tokyo University. However, the Space Engineering course he had planned on taking was popular causing him to have to take the Engine course. Although things didn’t go as planned, the Engine course was a success! The teacher who had many connections brought in teachers from all over the world allowing him to get better at English presentations. He also fell in love with engines and ends up working with engines. 5 years later, Noguchi decides to apply to become an astronaut with support from his beloved wife. After multiple rounds of physical, writing, speaking, and health tests, he finally achieves his dream of becoming an astronaut. However, there was still much to do.

Becoming an astronaut doesn’t mean that they will go to space. They still need to take classes and training. Learning about the space shuttle and how to handle problems, learning how to fly a T38 jet, and becoming physically capable to go to space. On April 9^th, 2001, after many years of hard work, Noguchi is finally assigned to fly to space. Two months before his mission, the Columbia disaster occurred. On the way back from space, space shuttle Columbia had broken into pieces, killing all 7 astronauts in it. This tragic accident caused all of NASA, not just the ones going to space, and their families to be worried. Noguchi thinks hard about it and concludes that, “This job is one worth risking my life” (Noguchi, 127). He also works hard to explain to her three daughters about why the shuttle failed and why it won’t repeat. The death of his colleagues allows Noguchi to realize that going to space is very dangerous and develop as an astronaut, before going on his trip.

This final section is where Noguchi talks about the future of space. First, he talks about きぼう (Hope), Japan’s “Space House.” きぼうis part of the ISS and has three parts: a laboratory for experiments, a terrace for observing space, and a warehouse for unused experimental items. Next, he talks about the next goal for man-kind, to be able to live in space and stay for long periods of time. He wants to be able to have some free time, not constantly doing work and tasks for the mission, and observe space and our planet. He then talks about the different things possible in the ISS such as being able to conduct experiments not possible on Earth due to gravity to learn more about different sickness, viruses, and allergies. How they can learn how no gravity can affect the human body, so we can prepare to possibly live on the moon or mars. After that he talks about why we go to space, giving the “ant story”. Noguchi says, “Say there are ants walking in a straight line (1d ants) and a rock appears in front of them. It is over for them until another ant (2d ant) goes around the rock and proceeds to go. However, in front of the 2d ants appear a wall of rocks stretching infinitely sideways causing the ants to be doomed. Nevertheless, a new ant (3d ant) climbs the rocks and continues to proceed on with its journey.” Using this story, he says that entering space could change our views on the world and could potentially help solve major problems.

I believe this is a great book to read. Not only does it give information about space and astronauts, but it also teaches important life lessons through the life of Soichi Noguchi. For example, where he talks about his struggles in getting into college could help readers make sure to prepare for college ahead of time and teach them how life doesn’t always go your way. Additionally, this book can help with students learning or working on maintaining Japanese because the book is written for young readers and does not use a very hard writing style. 

Finally, I would like to end on a quote from Soichi Noguchi.

“No matter how much you think and stress, some problems are only solved by time.

Most times struggling only makes it worse.

Therefore instead of trying to solve the problem, you just have to do what you do every day

little by little”

-Soichi Noguchi 1965