I visited the Tanegashima Space Center for the first time in several years to attend a meeting of the Technical Committee on High-Pressure Gas for Space Use. I visited the museum in the space center. I found several new H-III-related exhibits in the museum. Mizutani Lab has been focusing on carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) research, and a lot of CFRP is used in rockets. For example, some of the air accumulators attached to rockets are made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. The Mizutani Lab is conducting research that will lead to a weight reduction of pressure vessels for fuel cell vehicles, the results of which may be used in space in the future.
