Japanese cargo ship HTV-9 completes space station resupply mission

Eleven years after the launch of the first H-II transfer cargo vehicle (HTV) to the International Space Station, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXAs) The HTV-9 left the orbital lab yesterday at 1:36 p.m. EDT.

Earlier in the day, flight controllers operating NASAThe agency’s mission control center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston used the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the cargo spacecraft from the station’s Harmony module, then moved the spacecraft to its release position. . Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA used the robotic arm Canadarm2 to free the spacecraft from the station at 1:35 p.m., ending his three-month stay.

This marked the final departure of JAXA’s first generation Kounotori, or “white stork” cargo ships, nine of which delivered more than 40 tonnes of supplies to space station crews. JAXA is developing a new fleet of HTV cargo ships, the HTV-X, which is expected to make its first launch in 2022.

The spacecraft was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on May 20 and arrived on May 25 to deliver approximately four tons of supplies and experiments to the orbital complex, including new lithium-ion batteries that were used. to modernize the station’s power systems. The new technology batteries were installed during a series of spacewalks along the “backbone” of the station’s remote port.

The HTV-9 will be ordered by JAXA flight controllers at its HTV control center in Tsukuba, Japan, to pull away from the station and, on August 20, trigger its deorbit motor in a burn that will send it back in the earth’s atmosphere. Loaded with waste from the space station, the spacecraft will burn harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.

For nearly 20 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked on the space station, testing technology, performing scientific research, and developing the skills to explore further from Earth. As a global company, 240 people from 19 countries visited the unique microgravity lab which hosted more than 3,000 research and educational studies conducted by researchers from 108 countries and regions.