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Koichi Wakata (born 1 August 1963) is a Japanese astronaut and a veteran of two NASA space shuttle missions.
Wakata, born in Omiya, Japan, earned a masters degree in applied mathematics from Kyushu University in 1989. He worked as a structural engineer for Japan Airlines. Wakata was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1992 and trained at NASA's Johnson Space Center; he flew aboard STS-72 in 1996 and STS-92 as a mission specialist.