When future historians document the story of Japanese space exploration, 2009 will likely figure as the year when the nation put two high-profile rocket launch failures, in 1999 and 2003, firmly behind it and, quite literally, took off.

In June, the nation's first blueprint for space development, the "Basic Plan for Space," was published. A month later, Koichi Wakata completed the longest stay of any Japanese in space — 4 1/2 months at the International Space Station (ISS). Before returning to Earth, the astronaut helped put the finishing touches to Japan's Kibo laboratory, a bus-size research module that is now the largest component of the ISS. And just three weeks ago came yet another enhancement of Japan's ISS presence, when the nation's HTV unmanned cargo vehicle launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture successfully docked with the station — ushering in Japan's ability to service the ISS independently.

Watching all of this from his base at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo's bayside Odaiba district was Mamoru Mohri, who 17 years ago became the nation's first professional astronaut.