Longest time between spacewalks

The longest time between spacewalks (or extra-vehicular activities) by an individual is 15 years 214 days, a record set by JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi (JPN). Noguchi carried out his first three spacewalks during the STS-114 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), with the last on 3 August 2005. It was not until 5 March 2021 that Noguchi again donned an EVA spacesuit as part of ISS Expedition 64.

Noguchi was born in 1965 in Yokohama, Japan. He trained as an aeronautical engineer, earning a master's degree from the University of Tokyo, and worked in aircraft engine design for a few years before being selected for astronaut training. His first spaceflight was as part of the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-114, which saw Noguchi fly to the ISS on the shuttle Discovery.

STS-114 was the first space shuttle flight since the loss of the shuttle Columbia in February 2003. As a result, Noguchi's first spacewalking assignment was to join NASA astronaut Stephen Robinson as he tested methods of repairing heat shield damage in-orbit, in case a shuttle was struck by debris again. During their 13-day stay in orbit, Noguchi and Robinson carried out two additional spacewalks – one to replace a broken part on the ISS and another to fit a piece of hardware brought up on the shuttle. He ended his rookie mission as an astronaut with an impressive 20 hours and 5 minutes of spacewalk time.

His next mission was ISS expedition 22/23, which saw Noguchi take his place as part of the resident crew of the ISS between 21 December 2009 and 1 June 2010. He carried out no spacewalks during this mission, but he extended his total time in space from 13 days to 177 days, the most for a Japanese astronaut.

During the 2010s, Noguchi continued to work for JAXA back in Japan, serving as Chief of the the JAXA Astronaut Group from 2012 to 2016. He also used his downtime to finally complete his PhD at the age of 55, adding a doctorate to his host of other accomplishments, which include being the Space Ambassador for the Tokyo Olympics, a counsellor for the World Food programme, a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, and a fully qualified flight-instructor for various aircraft. He also has an impressive collection of boy-scout merit badges, including a special one that the Scout Association of Japan made to mark his first space mission, and was the first to test "Space Ram" – instant ramen for astronauts.

He returned to space for a third time on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. This makes him one of only three people to have flown into space on three different spacecraft (the Space Shuttle, Soyuz and Crew Dragon). The other two are Wally Schirra (who flew in Mercury, Gemini and Apollo) and John Young (Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle). In addition to the usual supplies, Noguchi brought the crew of the ISS fried chicken, yakisoba noodles and salmon rice balls.

His most recent spacewalk was carried out to install modification kits for the the solar arrays on the ISS alongside NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. The 6-hour 56-minute spacewalk brings Noguchi's total EVA time to 27 hours and 1 minute.