Japan space agency says it did not report data tampering in 2018

A source familiar with the experiment said that TOKYO Kyodo was the astronaut who led a Japan space agency team implicated in data tampering and prioritized continuing to conduct research over reporting a mistake immediately to the organization's ethics committee in 2018.

Satoshi Furukawa, the third Japanese person to have completed a long-term mission in space, was responsible for the experiment that ran from 2016 to 2017 and simulated life on the International Space Station. A month ago, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency publicly revealed that tampering had occurred.

The mistake, found in January 2018, was quickly reported to Furukawa, but he did not convey the information to the committee.

The experiment, which was meant to recreate the conditions inside a space station, in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, was meant to assess the stress levels and mental well-being of 40 people confined for about two weeks in a closed environment. It was conducted between 2016 and 2017 and 2017.

Two people who did interviews to determine the mental states of the participants fabricated data, including making it seem like other researchers had also participated.

Furukawa said that reporting the error would have meant going off schedule, and since the data had been fixed, a report would be filed after countermeasures had been decided.

JAXA has said it presumes that there were various discussions, but they don't have a specific record of what they say. The agency said that while Furukawa had supervisory responsibility, he was not directly connected to any wrongdoing, it thinks a report should have been sent to the ethics board.

According to the source and a JAXA investigation, Furukawa learned that blood samples from November 2017 test subjects had been mixed up after the matter came to light internally on January 23, 2018.

The researchers felt a lot of pressure and the research was run on tight schedules with few people, according to a source who spoke to Kyodo News. Furukawa's responsibility is diminished despite the possibility that they were put in an environment where they had no choice but to commit wrongdoing. Furukawa ordered the blood samples of the test subjects be re-examined, and the board was not informed until February 16, 2018, according to the source.

An internal investigation was opened in October 2018 after numerous other problems were found with the research, and the agency's president ordered its suspension in November 2019.

JAXA Vice President Hiroshi Sasaki defended Furukawa at an emergency press conference to announce the tampering on Nov. 25, at an emergency press conference.

Sasaki said he had a lot of work and could not dedicate enough time to research because he had a lot of work. Furukawa's name was not included in related documents and came out in questioning by journalists.

A space medicine expert who spoke to Kyodo News said JAXA had used his name recognition to further its research, though the space agency stressed Furukawa was not directly involved.

Between 2015 and 2019 research projects headed by Furukawa received a total of 96 million yen $711,000 and the astronaut himself gave a press conference in 2016 extolling the value of research.

At a press conference last week, Sanae Takaichi, whose ministerial portfolio includes science and technology, said that it is very doubtful that he did not realize tampering took place given his position.

She said until there was a public announcement that JAXA's response to the case was extraordinarily slow.