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– Japan’s “white stork” has taken off from the International Space Station for the last time.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) ninth H-II transfer vehicle, or HTV-9, was released from its temporary perch at the end of the robotic arm of the space station on Tuesday, August 18 at 13 36 hrs EDT (1736 GMT). The unequipped cargo vehicle, which JAXA has dubbed the “Kounotori” or “white stork,” will spend another two days in orbit before flight controllers in Tsukuba, Japan, order a burned-out engine that sends the spacecraft back into the air. in the earth’s atmosphere.
Loaded with around 7,400 pounds (3,400 kilograms) of used equipment and space station waste, the HTV will meet its fiery end, succumbing to the heat of reentry and burning over the Pacific Ocean.
The desorbit will mark the end of 11 years of HTV missions.
“Over the past 11 years, the H-II Kounotori transfer vehicle has delivered more than 40 tonnes of cargo, research, material and equipment to the International Space Station,” said Joel Montalbano, ISS program director from NASA, in a statement on NASA TV. departure. “I want to congratulate Japan on the HTV missions.”
First launched on September 10, 2009 atop Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ first H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan, the barrel-shaped HTV was the first Japanese spacecraft to service a space station and the first unequipped vehicle to dock. on the US segment of the International Space Station (ISS). The 33-foot (10-meter) long and 14-foot (4.4-meter) wide solar-powered spacecraft was also the first capsule to carry both pressurized and non-pressurized cargo.
“A white stork carries the image of conveying an important thing (a baby, happiness and other joyful things); therefore, it precisely expresses the mission of the HTV to transport essential materials to the ISS,” wrote JAXA officials about the spaceship’s nickname in November. 2010.
Following the HTV-1, the following Japanese spacecraft delivered supplies to the station in January 2011, July 2012, August 2013, August 2015, December 2016, September 2018, and September 2019. The HTV-9 was launched on May 20 (May 21, Japan time) and was attached to the Earth-facing port of the space station’s Harmony module five days later.
Like the eight vehicles that came before it, the HTV-9 spent its 85 days docked at the station being unloaded of its cargo and then repackaged with garbage. After the withdrawal of space shuttles in 2011, the Japanese HTV was the only spacecraft capable of delivering and removing refrigerator-sized payload racks. The HTV-9 carried NASA’s latest “EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station”, or EXPRESS rack, which provides power, storage, temperature control, data and transport for up to to 10 research experiments.
HTV-9 also delivered the latest set of six new lithium-ion batteries that were used to complete the upgrade to the space station’s solar power system this summer. Older and less efficient nickel-hydrogen batteries, mounted on a pallet launched on HTV-8, are now thrown into the unpressurized compartment on board the HTV-9. (The exposed pallet that was launched on HTV-9 will be dropped from the station later.)
In total, the nine Kounotori delivered more than 80,150 pounds (36,356 kg) of scientific equipment and supplies, including 58,513 pounds (26,541 kg) of pressurized cargo and 21,636 pounds (9,814 kg) of unpressurized cargo. . The vehicles also disposed of nearly 48,000 pounds (21,695 kg) of waste, including 35,236 pounds (15,983 kg) of pressurized waste and 12,593 pounds (5,712 kg) of used non-pressurized hardware.
On Tuesday, NASA flight controllers in Houston remotely commanded the Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the HTV-9 from the Harmony node and position it to release. Next, NASA astronaut and Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy, assisted by Russian flight engineer Ivan Wagner, supervised the departure of the vehicle as it was released from the hold of the robotic arm and pulled its thrusters on board to separate from the orbiting laboratory.
“It has been a true honor for the members of Expedition 63 … to welcome HTV, conduct operations there and now be part of its departure on the ninth-class spacecraft. Congratulations to all of us. colleagues and friends at JAXA, “Cassidy said after the HTV reached a safe distance from the space station.
Moving away, the HTV-9 allowed for another experiment, completing the already successful demonstration of Wireless LAN (WLD). In a first, the HTV transmitted live images to the space station in real time. The technology could one day support autonomous moorings on future missions, including between vehicles operating around the Moon and Mars.
The HTV is the third type of visiting vehicle to retire after flying under the ISS program. After the NASA Space Shuttle landed after its last mission in 2011, the European Space Agency (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) carried out its fifth and final mission in 2015. The space station continues to d to be supplied by Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, Northrop Grumman. SpaceX’s Cygnus freighter and Dragon capsule. The Boeing Starliner and Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser are expected to enter service in 2021.
JAXA plans to succeed the HTV “Kounotori” with a new more advanced spacecraft, called HTV-X. The new ship will have a greater payload capacity, be able to handle cargo requiring energy, and will be fitted with a hatch to allow for late additions just before launch.
Intended to fly at the station for the first time in 2022, the HTV-X is also being considered for flights to the moon, to provide supplies to the planned lunar orbiting gateway as part of JAXA’s proposed contributions to the program. NASA Artemis.
“The HTV is the last Japanese freighter in the series, but this final departure marks the beginning of a new chapter for our international partner, which is developing [the] next-generation cargo vehicle, HTV-X, “JAXA astronaut Norishige Kanai said from the HTV control room in Tsukuba, Japan.” We have improved the capabilities of the new vehicle [to] expand our activity in space, not only on the ISS, but beyond low earth orbit. We can’t wait to see HTV-X in the near future. Until then, goodbye HTV. “
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