Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi chatted with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and US space shuttle Discovery Commander Eileen Collins at Koizumi's official residence in Tokyo, August 4, 2005, about various aspects of their mission, including an instant noodle dish specially developed for consumption in space.
"Mr Noguchi, I tried the space noodles, but how did they taste in space? Were they good?" Koizumi asked. "Space noodles were one of the things I was really looking forward to," Discovery's lead spacewalker Noguchi replied. "They were surprisingly close to the delicious taste of noodles on Earth," he added.
Koizumi told Collins he watched her on television every day and was extremely impressed: "In every respect: ability, courage, patience and sense of duty, you are not a spacewoman, but a superwoman. "
