P173 CEEFAX 173  Fri 13 May  21:94/02
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  JAPANESE WOMAN ASTRONAUT ON SHUTTLE 
  Japan's first woman astronaut,      
  Chiaki Mukai, will blast off on the 
  space shuttle Columbia on July 8.   
                                      
  The 42-year-old follows journalist  
  Toyohiro Akiyama - Japan's first    
  man in space. He flew aboard a      
  Russian Soyuz craft in 1990.        
                                      
  The Columbia mission this July will 
  also have six Americans on board.   
                                      
  During the 13-day flight, Chiaki    
  will help carry out 80 scientific   
  experiments in near-:jro gravity.   
 
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