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Japan's prime minister to talk to Japanese astronaut in space
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    • TOKYO (AFP) Aug 03, 2005
     Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will talk via video-phone to Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on the US space shuttle Discovery on Thursday, the government said.

    The Japanese prime minister's office would be in contact with the Discovery for 12 minutes from 6:19 pm (0919 GMT) on Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Wednesday.

    Discovery Commander Eileen Collins would join the call as would the Japanese education and science minister, Nariaki Nakayama.

    Noguchi, 40, is the sixth Japanese in space and has become a national hero. News programs feature his daily routine in space, with newspapers on Wednesday carrying articles and photographs of him eating a space version of instant noodles.

    A special ball-shaped version of ramen noodles was developed for space travelers by Japan's Nissin Food, whose invention of instant noodles has resulted in a 65 billion pack-a-year global industry.




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