JAXA: one of Japan’s astronauts fabricated data in ground-based experiment
According to Japan’s space agency JAXA, one of its astronauts, Satoshi Furukawa, falsified and fabricated the research results of a ground-based experiment run from 2015 to 2017.
The experiment asked a total of 42 test subjects to spend 14 days in a mock space station, during which blood and urine samples were collected.
A JAXA probe later found multiple misconduct with the research, including creating data without a supervisory researcher and intentionally rewriting evaluations. The study also lacked sufficient assessment methods and adequate research notes, and the credibility of the data wasn’t assured.
These wrongdoings were discovered after the experiments had been completed, and since the research was subsequently suspended no papers were published.
Furukawa is scheduled to fly to ISS in ’23. Though JAXA says he and his research team will be punished, it is unclear whether that means his flight has been canceled.
According to Japan’s space agency JAXA, one of its astronauts, Satoshi Furukawa, falsified and fabricated the research results of a ground-based experiment run from 2015 to 2017.
The experiment asked a total of 42 test subjects to spend 14 days in a mock space station, during which blood and urine samples were collected.
A JAXA probe later found multiple misconduct with the research, including creating data without a supervisory researcher and intentionally rewriting evaluations. The study also lacked sufficient assessment methods and adequate research notes, and the credibility of the data wasn’t assured.
These wrongdoings were discovered after the experiments had been completed, and since the research was subsequently suspended no papers were published.
Furukawa is scheduled to fly to ISS in ’23. Though JAXA says he and his research team will be punished, it is unclear whether that means his flight has been canceled.