A Japanese cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station to deliver science experiments, spare parts and a conversational "crewmate" of the robot kind.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) fourth unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) launched Saturday (Aug. 3) on six-day journey to the space station. The HTV, referred to as "Kounotori," Japanese for white stork, lifted off atop an H-IIB rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center at 2:48 p.m. CDT (1948 GMT, 4:48 a.m. Japanese time, Aug. 4).
The 33-foot-long by 14.4-foot-wide (10 by 4.4 meter) cargo craft is scheduled to arrive at the space station on Friday (Aug. 9), where the outpost's crew will use the station's robotic arm to reach out and capture the 12-ton spacecraft and berth it to the Harmony module's Earth-facing port.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-09-2013 07:05 AM
Kounotori-4 captured by space station arm
On Friday (Aug. 9), the fourth Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle, Kounotori-4, arrived in the vicinity of the International Space Station (ISS), approaching the orbiting complex from below to a hold position about 40 feet (12 meters) away.
With ISS Expedition 36 flight engineer Luca Parmitano monitoring the Japanese cargo freighter's systems, flight engineers Karen Nyberg and Chris Cassidy used Canadarm2, the space station's robotic arm, to reach out and capture the vehicle at 6:22 a.m. CDT (1122 GMT).
With HTV-4 securely grappled, the robotics team at NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston will command the arm to install the vehicle to its port on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node beginning around 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-10-2013 09:06 AM
NASA video releases
Japanese Cargo Ship Arrives at ISS
Six days after launching from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, the unpiloted Japanese Kounotori4 H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV-4, met up with the International Space Station and was captured by the Expedition 36 crew using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Japanese Cargo Ship Attached to ISS
The unpiloted Japanese Kounotori4 H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV-4, was installed on the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module. It will remain there for about a month while the more than 3 tons of cargo and experiments it delivered are transferred to the ISS.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-04-2013 11:34 AM
Kounotori-4 released from space station
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle-4 (HTV-4) was released from the International Space Station on Wednesday (Sept. 4) at 11:20 a.m. CDT (1620 GMT), completing its one-month stay at the orbiting outpost.
ISS Expedition 36 flight engineer Karen Nyberg, operating from the station's cupola robotics workstation, used the Canadarm2 to release the cargo craft. Ground controllers at Mission Control, Houston earlier unberthed the HTV-4 from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node at 7:07 a.m. CDT (1207 GMT).
HTV-4 is now maneuvering to a safe distance away from the station where it will be commanded by Japanese flight controllers to deorbit on Saturday (Sept. 7). The craft, now loaded with trash, will burn up as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-09-2013 11:32 AM
JAXA release (Sept. 7, 2013)
Successful re-entry of HTV-4 "Kounotori-4"
The H-II Transfer Vehicle "Kounotori-4" successfully re-entered the atmosphere after the third de-orbit maneuver at 3:11 p.m. on Sept. 7, 2013 (Japanese Standard Time, JST).
The "Kounotori-4" has successfully accomplished the main objective of shipping cargo to the International Space Station, and completed its 36-day mission.
The estimated date/time for the re-entry and water landing are as follows (JST):
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-11-2013 04:29 PM
NASA photo release
Space station photographs HTV-4 re-entry
A stationary camera onboard the International Space Station took this picture of the Japanese HTV-4 cargo spacecraft as it entered Earth's atmosphere on Sept. 7, subsequently burning up.
See here for discussion about JAXA's Kounotori-4 mission to the space station.