Akiyama was not a trained astronaut, scientist nor engineer. During his time aboard Mir, Akiyama gave live reports each day documenting life aboard the station, but his apparent discomfort led to him being described as the first “antihero in space”. He described his struggles such as space sickness and craving for cigarettes:During training, he quit smoking cigarettes, having previously smoked four packs a day. Before liftoff, when asked what he looked forward to most upon his return to Earth, he said “I can’t wait to have a smoke”. His fellow cosmonauts later reported, in regards to his nausea, that they “hadn’t ever seen a man vomit that much.”
Why has nobody made an anime about this guy???
I was going to give him all the big dope diggity dumb ass props until I learned it was only for ten days. Although I couldn’t imagine the torture of sending someone like this up for a few months. Shit, the muscle atrophy for someone (likely) not inclined to workout vigorously everyday, might kill him after a few more than the ten he did.