The latest creation by Japanese fashion designer Tae Ashida is truly out of this world -- an outfit twinning a blue cardigan and shorts made for astronaut Naoko Yamazaki。

　　The US space shuttle Discovery blasted off on Monday with Yamazaki and two other female crew on board, bound for the International Space Station (ISS) on a historic mission that put more women in orbit than ever before。

　　Ahead of her departure, Yamazaki, 39, asked Ashida, daughter of fashion guru Jun Ashida, to design her work clothes for the 13-day space mission and she came up with a slim knit cardigan in light blue with navy blue shorts。

　　"As a female designer, I chose a design and colour with a sense of grace ... so that she can feel at ease as she carries out a tough mission in a male-dominated, bleak atmosphere," Ashida said on Wednesday。

　　"It's like a dream come true to see my clothes worn in space," said Ashida. "I'm looking forward to seeing her wear my design."

　　Yamazaki also brought a miniature version of the traditional Japanese harp, known as a koto, to the station to play an ensemble with her countryman Soichi Noguchi, who has carried his Japanese flute to the station。

　　Yamazaki asked a Japanese musical instrument factory to make a miniature version of the koto, which usually measures about 1.8 metres (six feet)， to meet the size limit for her space shuttle cabin luggage。

　　"The sound is quite different from that of an authentic one, but I'm very much looking forward to seeing her play the koto in space," said instrument maker Kenzo Ogawa, who produced the mini harp。

　　Japan's astronauts have shown a penchant for space entertainment in the past。

　　Last year Koichi Wakata performed a series of zero-gravity challenges, including testing a "flying carpet", folding laundry and using eye drops in the ISS, videos of which were posted online by the Japanese space agency。

　　(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site。)

　　日本时装设计师芦田多惠的最新作品堪称真正的“超凡出世”，她为宇航员山崎奈绪子设计了一套太空工作服，上身是一件蓝色无领开衫，下身搭配一条短裤。

　　本周一，山崎和其他两名女宇航员搭乘美国“发现号”航天飞机飞往国际空间站，此次太空之旅具有历史性意义，因为执行此次飞行任务的女宇航员数量是有史以来最多的。

　　在前往太空之前，39岁的山崎请时装设计大师芦田淳的女儿芦田多惠为她13天的太空之行设计一套工作服。芦田多惠为她设计了一件修身的淡蓝色开衫，下身搭配一条海蓝色的短裤。

　　芦田多惠于周三称：“作为一名女设计师，我选择的设计风格和颜色有一种典雅之感，这样她在一个男性为主的、沉闷的环境中执行艰巨的任务时会感到很自在。”

　　芦田说：“看见自己设计的衣服穿在宇航员身上进入太空，有一种梦想成真的感觉。我很期待看见她穿上我设计的衣服。”

　　山崎还将一个“微缩版”的日本筝带上了国际空间站，她的同伴野口聪则带了一个日本横笛，两人要在空间站表演二重奏。

　　这个微缩版的日本筝是山崎专门请日本一家乐器工厂制作的，以符合航天飞机机舱行李体积的标准。这种古筝的长度一般为1.8米(6英尺)。

　　制作这把“迷你”古筝的乐器制造商小川贤三说：“这把古筝的声音和普通的古筝还是有些差别的，不过我很期待看见她在太空中弹奏它。”

　　日本宇航员向来喜欢太空娱乐。

　　去年，宇航员若田光一在太空中进行了一系列的零重力表演，包括测试“飞毯”、在国际空间站折叠衣物和滴眼药水，这些表演视频都被日本航天局放到了网上。