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Volume 13, Issue #1. Published on November 3, 2004
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Photos courtesy of NASA.
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Leroy Ciao makes history by being the first Asian American commanding the ISS.
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Asian Commander Leads Space Mission
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Harim Martinez
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Leroy Chiao has become the first Asian American Commander of the International Space Station (ISS).
Leading the Expedition 10 mission, Chiao is both mission commander and science officer.
The ISS is a joint effort of Canada, Japan, Russia, the United States and the European Union.
The ISS project garnered Chaio a lift from Russia.
Due to NASA's grounding of the space shuttle fleet after the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew, all manned and cargo ships have been handed over to the Russian space program.
Chiao trained for weeks at Russia's Star City to familiarize himself with the equipment aboard the ISS and the Russian rocket.
Star City, a military installation, is famous for being the headquarters of cosmonaut training since the inception of the Soviet program.
With Uzbek cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov serving as Flight Engineer, Expedition 10 is the first all-Asian crew in history.
The space voyagers blasted off in a Soyuz TMA-5.
The team relieved astronaut Michael Fincke and cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who have manned the ISS since mid-April.
Chaio and Sharipov will remain onboard for six months.
The team's time aboard ISS will be primarily focused on maintenance.
They will also install antennas for a future docking vehicle called an ATV.
In addition, there will be scientific experiments conducted such as research on new AIDS vaccines.
They will also serve as their own guinea pigs, conducting physiological experiments on how well human bodies adapt to null gravity.
Chiao is one of only three Asian Americans counted among the elite ranks of American astronauts.
Chiao became enamored with spaceflight at a young age.
At eight, Chaio was hooked when he watched Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong take their first steps on the lunar surface after the landing of Apollo 11.
After obtaining a B.S. in chemical engineering at U.C. Berkeley, Chiao applied at NASA, but was informed he needed work experience.
He went on to obtain his doctorate in chemical engineering from U.C. Santa Barbara and worked as a researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
In 1990 Chiao finally achieved his childhood dream of joining NASA.
Since then, he has flown in three shuttle missions.
On his second mission in 1996, he became the first Asian American to go on an extra vehicular activity (EVA), or space walk.
“This is my chance to become the commander of the space station,” Chiao explained, “and do some meaningful work on board the space station to further our goals toward exploration, toward returning to the moon and on to Mars.”
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