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: Japan's first citizen and the world's first journalist to launch into space, Toyohiro Akiyama died Wednesday (Aug. 26) at the age of 84. As the first commercially-sponsored cosmonaut, Akiyama launched with the Soyuz TM-11 crew for a week-long stay on the space station Mir. He provided video and audio reports every day, including sharing views of Japan and watching Japanese tree frogs adjusting to microgravity.
