• The SpaceX Crew-5 vehicle carrying the four astronauts will be launched from the space center at 1 a.m. Thursday Japan time

TOKYO: Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with three colleagues early Sunday Japan time, days ahead of their flight to the International Space Station.

Wakata, 59, told a press conference that he is fully prepared for the space mission and that he has done everything he could through training.

He added that the astronauts are ready to make full efforts to produce the best results from the long-term ISS mission through their teamwork in which they take care of each other.

The astronauts held the press conference on a runway of the space center upon getting off a small jet that transported them to the facility.

The SpaceX Crew-5 vehicle carrying the four astronauts will be launched from the space center at 1 a.m. Thursday Japan time (4 p.m. Wednesday GMT). They will stay at the ISS for about six months.

JIJI Press