“I want to solve the mysteries which have yet to be discovered.”
Aiming to be the best in the world for the international space race.
Professor in the Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Space Technology Lab, and Space Exploration at Tohoku University.
Director of the Center of Robotics for Extreme and Uncertain Environments
Professor Kazuya Yoshida
The international space development contest that the whole world is watching:
The Google Lunar X PRIZE
The moon hanging in the night sky amidst a myriad of stars is the stage for the most remarkable race that draws the attention of researchers from all across the world. This race of a massive scale is called the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Its goal is to send an unmanned probe to the Moon, maneuver it on the lunar surface for more than 500m and to transmit images and live footage back to the earth. The condition for this contest is that every contestant must be privately funded. The first team to accomplish this simple but demanding mission will be the winner of this contest and gain the honor and research funding that will lead to further progress in space development. There are 22 participating teams (as of January 2014) from 15 countries and one of them is from Japan: HAKUTO. Professor Kazuya Yoshida is the one taking the lead in this team with expectations upon them from around the country. Professor Yoshida is the top space engineer in the nation, and has been pursuing his passion for space ever since he fell in love with astronomy after watching the historic lunar landing of Apollo 11 when he was only 8 years old. The road has not been without hardships for Professor Yoshida, but every challenge has only reaffirmed his genuine love for space. He firmly believes that as long as he is pursuing his dream, it will never be in vain.
"Refined technology is borne by Japanese ingenuity"
The infinite universe that an 8-year-old boy dreamed of.
Professor Yoshida is based in Department of Aerospace Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering in Tohoku University. His laboratory is always full of many international students pursuing space research that have gathered from around the world to study under Professor Yoshida. “The US and Russia have long been playing the leading role in space technology, and Europe as a whole has also been showing steady progress. But it is also true that Japanese technology occupies a great part of the manufacturing technology for America’s leading aircraft, Boeing 787. It was the academic researchers at Tohoku University who led the development of composite materials that made it possible to manufacture ultralight, highly economic airplanes.” Although Japan lags behind other countries in terms of the scale, Professor Yoshida says that the refined technology would not exist if it were not for the technology produced in Japan. The highest level of elaboration in craftsmanship is the trademark of Japan, which cannot be beaten by other countries. More than 40 years have passed since an 8-year-old boy, Yoshida, saw the lunar landing of Apollo 11. Along the long path that he took towards the frontier of aerospace studies, which began when he was fascinated by space as a child, there was a major crossroads in his second year of the high school.
Long-forgotten “feeling of excitement”
Never give up on a dream, even if you cannot take the shortest path toward your dream.
He had been keeping his interest in space since the news of Apollo 11 lunar landing, but as he advanced to junior high school and high school, he became more concentrated on improving his grades at school. One day while busy studying and preparing to select which university to apply to during the second year of high school, a researcher from the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (current National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) made an inspiring talk about space which seized Yoshida’s heart. “His talk reminded me of my fascination with space. That was when I realized that I’d forgotten my dream. The important thing was I was excited about space. And I thought that, if I was excited about it, then I should choose that path.” The trend in Japanese society is to choose the university based on what is best to obtain a secure employment in the future, to talk about dreams in terms of university entrance exams and to establish one’s course of life while still young, but, looking back on his life, Professor Yoshida feels that it should not be forced on everyone. “Even though I wanted to study astronomy, I failed the entrance exam. I studied one more year, but I failed again and only managed to pass the entrance exam for the school of engineering. To tell you the truth, I felt quite depressed at that time.” He recalls now with a smile that engineering was not his first choice. But he never let go of his love for space and he got involved in the astronomy club as he studied at the school of engineering. He kept himself in touch with astronomy.
Professor in the Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Space Technology Lab, and Space Exploration at Tohoku University.
Director of the Center of Robotics for Extreme and Uncertain Environments
Professor Kazuya Yoshida
Graduated from the School of Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1984, and completed the master’s degree program of graduate school in 1986. After working as a teaching assistant at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and then as a visiting researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he began working at Tohoku University, taking on his present post from 2003. His research fields are space robotics, dynamics and control of space robots, space exploration technology and the development of microsatellites. He has also been contributing to international education in space engineering as a visiting educator at International Space University since 1998.