Information technology will play a key role in advancing space shuttle operations and those of other spacecraft, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata told Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori from space Thursday.

During the second day of an 11-day mission of the space shuttle Discovery, which is orbiting 330 km above Earth, Wakata spoke with Mori -- who was at his official residence -- for about 20 minutes.

"IT has already contributed greatly to operations of shuttles and the International Space Station," said Wakata, whose conversation with Mori was monitored at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The 37-year-old mission specialist said advances in IT have already enabled astronauts to send and receive e-mail messages while aboard a space shuttle.