Kuninaka Hitoshi Becomes The Second Japanese To Be Awarded The Title Of Honorary Member AIAA

Director General of ISAS Kuninaka Hitoshi (doc. JAXA).

JAKARTA - Director General of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Kuninaka Hitoshi, was elected as Honorary Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

This news was conveyed by the Japanerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the institution that oversees ISAS, on Friday, February 9, 2024. JAXA said that the award received by Kuninaka was an extraordinary achievement.

Meanwhile, Kuninaka was honored by the award. You see, AIAA Honorary Member is the highest title in the organization. Kuninaka is the 239th person to receive the award.

"When I looked at the Honorary Recipients List, there were many legends of fluid mechanics and aerospace engineering named after the field center and aerospace company NASA. We also know them from textbooks," said Kuninaka.

Before Kuninaka received the title of Honorary Member, Itiro Tani was the only Japanese to receive the award. Therefore, Kuninaka was honored for this great honor.

"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to many friends and colleagues for their extraordinary support. I will continue to devote myself to advancing the knowledge of aerospace and outer space so that I can make this title proud," he said.

AIAA is the largest aerospace organization in the world. The people who join the organization or association are representatives of aerospace agencies or companies from various countries in the world.

This organization has been around for decades. The first award was awarded in 1932 to Orville Wright. Apart from Wright, some of the famous people who received this title were Neil A. Armstrong (1971), John K. Northrop (1969), and many more.