Japan’s HTV-9 resupply ship is on its own after being launched from the Canadarm2 robotic arm finishing a three-month freight objective at the station. Credit: NASA
Eleven years after the launch of the very first H-II Transfer freight car (HTV) to the International Space Station, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) HTV-9 left the orbital lab the other day at 1: 36 p.m. EDT.
Earlier today, flight controllers running from NASA’s Mission Control Center at the company’s Johnson Space Center in Houston utilized the spaceport station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to separate the freight spacecraft from the station’s Harmony module, then moved the spacecraft into its release position. Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA utilized the Canadarm2 robotic arm to launch the spacecraft from the station at 1: 35 p.m., ending its three-month stay.
This was the last station departure of JAXA’s first-generation Kounotori, or “white stork,” freight craft, 9 of which have actually provided more than 40 lots of materials to spaceport station teams. JAXA is establishing a brand-new fleet of HTV freight craft, the HTV-X, which is targeted for its very first launch in 2022.
The spacecraft released from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on May 20, showing up May 25 to provide about 4 lots of materials and experiments to the orbital complex, consisting of brand-new lithium-ion batteries that were utilized to update the station’s power systems. The new-technology batteries were set up through a series of spacewalks along the far port truss “backbone” of the station.
HTV-9 will be commanded by JAXA flight controllers at its HTV nerve center in Tsukuba, Japan, to move far from the station and, on Aug. 20, to fire its deorbit engine in a burn that will send it back into Earth’s environment. Loaded with garbage from the spaceport station, the spacecraft will burn up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.
For almost 20 years, astronauts have actually constantly lived and deal with the spaceport station, screening innovations, carrying out science and establishing the abilities required to check out further from Earth. As a worldwide undertaking, 240 individuals from 19 nations have actually checked out the distinct microgravity lab that has actually hosted more than 3,000 research study and instructional examinations from scientists in 108 nations and locations.
