Japan's HTV-5 launches to space stationThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its H-II Transport Vehicle 5 (HTV-5) at 6:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT; 8:50 p.m. local time in Japan) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
Loaded with more than 4.5 tons of supplies, including water, spare parts and experiment hardware for the International Space Station, the cargo craft, named Kounotori, Japanese for "white stork," is now on a four-day journey to the orbiting outpost.
Among the science equipment HTV-5 is delivering is the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), which will search for signatures of dark matter and provide the highest energy direct measurements of the cosmic ray electron spectrum. The data from the investigation may also help characterize the radiation environment and the risks it may pose to humans in space.
Additionally, CALET's long exposure in space may yield evidence of rare interactions between "normal" matter and dark matter.
Other payloads aboard the cargo ship include a flock of fourteen Dove satellites to support the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer and the NanoRacks External Platform (NREP), which will be mounted outside the space station on the Japanese External Facility (JEM-EF).
On Aug. 24, the HTV-5 will approach the station from below and slowly inch its way towards the orbital complex. Expedition 44 flight engineers Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren will use the space station's robotic arm to reach out and grapple the 12-ton spacecraft and install it on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will spend five weeks.
Flight engineer Scott Kelly will monitor the HTV-5 systems during the rendezvous and grapple.