This small Japanese reinsertion capsule is ready for a test flight from the space station



[ad_1]

This small Japanese reinsertion capsule is ready for a test flight from the space station

Japan will test the HTV Small re-entry capsule, shown here, to test the payload return technology during its Kounotori7 cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station.

Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

A brand new Japanese reintroduction capsule, designed to bring back space experiments, is preparing for its first test flight after hitching up a cargo freighter to the International Space Station.

The space capsule arrived at the space station on Thursday, 27 September, with 5 tons of supplies on Kounotori7, the seventh H-II transfer vehicle refueling vessel (also known as HTV-7). Exploration Agency (JAXA). Kounotori is Japanese for "white stork".

The HTV's small re-entry capsule (HSRC) made its first trip to the International Space Station on September 22, when Kounotori7 was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

The HSRC is designed to transport experimental samples to Earth in three ways: with non-electrical passive cooling, a "double-layer vacuum insulation container (thermos bottle) and a storage unit. heat (refrigerant) ". .

This image from NASA shows the location and size of the small HTV re-entry capsule on the Kounotori7 freighter. The small capsule will test reentry methods to return experiments to Earth from the International Space Station.

This image from NASA shows the location and size of the small HTV re-entry capsule on the Kounotori7 freighter. The small capsule will test reentry methods to return experiments to Earth from the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA TV

To prepare this capsule to return to Earth, astronauts living and working on the space station will first load samples of experience into a payload container. Another preparatory step is to add a separation mechanism that absorbs heat that could affect the parachute on a cylindrical structure.

Configuration of HSRC and payload container.

Configuration of HSRC and payload container.

Credit: JAXA

This cylindrical support (manufactured exclusively for the HSRC) goes on the hatch at the entrance of the logistics carrier (PLC) of the HTV-7 spacecraft and ensures that the enclosure stays sealed when the hatch of the vehicle is left open, according to the space agency.

When HTV-7 emerges from the space station, the spacecraft will perform a deorbit burn that will travel to Earth. Then the leaders on Earth will order the release of the HSRC from the vehicle and the capsule will begin to enter the atmosphere of our planet. The CRSS will soak up with a parachute.

Conceptual diagram of the operations of the HSRC.

Conceptual diagram of the operations of the HSRC.

Credit: JAXA

The payload of the Kounotori7 also included a delivery of the astronaut's bases, such as food. The launch also sent several spacelab units, or racks of experience, including two American experience racks called Express Rack 9B and 10B; the second large-scale glove box for scientific experiments on the space station, called US Life Sciences Glovebox; and the Life Support Rack of the European Space Agency, which will try to recycle carbon dioxide and water on the space station.

The authorities also sent a special radiator equipped with a heat pipe for a demonstration in orbit at the Japanese laboratory Kibo on the space station.

JAXA had already scheduled the launch of the Kounotori7 on Saturday, September 15 at 5:59 (Japan time), but they canceled the launch because a "further investigation of the H-IIB F7 propulsion system became necessary". JAXA officials said in a statement released that day. (The No. 7 H-IIB vehicle is the rocket that launched Kounotori7 into space.)

Unfavorable weather and typhoon conditions also pushed JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to postpone scheduled flights earlier for September 11 and September 14.

[ad_2]
Source link