posted 07-20-2012 09:12 PM               

Japan launches third station freighter, Kounotori-3

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched Friday (July 20) its third H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) "Kounotori-3" to the International Space Station. The unmanned spacecraft lifted off atop a Japanese H-IIB rocket at 10:06 p.m. EDT (0206 GMT July 21) from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.

A little over six days from now on July 27, Kounotori-3 is scheduled to be grappled by the Expedition 32 crew using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm and attached to the forward end of the Harmony module to begin a stay of just under a month.

Aboard Kounotori-3, which translates to "white stork," is about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of equipment, supplies and experiments in a pressurized cargo compartment along with more than 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of unpressurized experiments.

The payload for the station includes an aquatic habitat experiment, a catalytic reactor for the station's water regeneration system, five small satellites (three from Japan and two from NASA), a Japanese satellite deployment device, an area-entry data recorder and a re-entry data acquisition system and a Japanese cooling water recirculation pump.

The eight resupply racks inside the HTV are loaded with a variety of supplies and equipment, much of it in cargo transfer bags.

Above: JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) Kounotori-3 logo.

The unpressurized cargo includes two devices, the Japanese Multi-mission Consolidated Equipment and the NASA Communications, Navigation and Networking re-configurable Testbed, also known as SCAN, or Space Communications and Navigation test bed.

The Japanese housing supports five experiments to be installed on the outside of Japan's Kibo Laboratory. The NASA experiment looks at software to establish communication between Ku-band and S-band via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system and will also be installed outside the station, on an express logistics carrier on the port truss.

After about 29 days attached to the station, HTV-3, now re-loaded by the station's crew with trash and no longer needed equipment, will be unberthed to be incinerated during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

posted 07-27-2012 07:40 AM               

Japan's HTV Kounotori-3 grappled by station arm

Using the International Space Station's (ISS) Canadarm2 robotic arm, ISS Expedition 32 flight engineer Joe Acaba of NASA captured the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori-3 at 7:23 a.m. CDT (1223 GMT) on Friday (July 27).

Acaba handed off control of the arm to JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide, who then used it to attach Kounotori-3 to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.

The berthing was achieved at 9:34 a.m. CDT (1434 GMT).

The Japanese ship, which name means "white stork" — because it is emblematic of an important delivery — is loaded with about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of equipment, supplies and experiments in a pressurized cargo compartment along with more than 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of unpressurized experiments.

posted 09-12-2012 04:04 PM               

Japan's HTV Kounotori-3 departs space station

Robotic arm operators Aki Hoshide and Joe Acaba, both Expedition 32 flight engineers, commanded Canadarm2 to release the HTV-3 at 10:50 a.m. CDT (1550 GMT) Wednesday (Sept. 12). The Japanese cargo craft, filled with trash, will re-enter Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean for a fiery disposal.

Hoshide and Acaba earlier commanded the Canadarm2 to grapple and unberth the HTV-3 from the Harmony node. Unberthing from the Earth-facing port of Harmony occurred at 6:50 a.m. CDT (1150 GMT).

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the HTV-3 from the Tanegashima Space Center on July 20. The cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station on July 27.