#Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi #Iwaya arrived in #Kyiv for an unannounced visit overnight on Nov. 16 in a show of #Tokyo's support for the besieged country.
Iwaya will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Foreign Minister Andrii #Sybiha in the daytime ahead of a possible meeting with President Volodymyr #Zelensky, Japan's foreign ministry told Kyodo news.
https://kyivindependent.com/japanese-foreign-minister-arrives-in-kyiv-2/
Yesterday, #Iwaya Giken, the Japanese balloon firm aiming to offer near-space tourist flights, achieved a new step towards its goal by reaching 20.8 km in a manned balloon test.
This is an unofficial record for Japan.
The test was performed over the Hokkaido region with a single human pilot (the Assistant Manager of the R&D Department) using a T-10 Earther two-seat pressurized capsule.
Total flight time was 4 hours and 56 min. with a displacement of 41 km.
The Japanese firm Iwaya Inc. flew for the first time on December 6th its T-10 two-seat manned balloon capsule.
The balloon reached during the test a maximum altitude of 700 meters.
The 90-minute flight performed in Hokkaido, served to test the operation of balloon valves, to level the altitude of flight using ballast, and to perform a safe landing on the riverbed of the Tokachi River.
On October 14, 2023 Iwaya Inc. a balloon firm from Japan conducted a successful manned flight of their T9-III pressurized capsule to an altitude of 10.669 meters.
The pilot Akito Iwagawa (who is part of the R&D department of Iwaya) became the first person to reach such altitude in a sealed environment above the country.
The flight lasted for 141 minutes for a traveling distance of 73 kilometers from Minami to Homoto in central Hokkaido.
fdnomad
Hanse Mina
StratoCat
