JAXA - H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-9) patch.
May 20, 2020
Carrying four tons of supplies, water, spare parts and experiment hardware for the Expedition 63 crew aboard the International Space Station, HTV-9 launched from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Wednesday, May 20 at 1:31 p.m. EDT (2:31 a.m. Thursday, May 21, Japan time).
Image above: Japan’s HTV-9 cargo craft moments after liftoff from the at the Tanegashima Space Center. Image Credits: JAXA/NASA.
The cargo vehicle will arrive at the station Monday, May 25. Live coverage of rendezvous and grapple will begin at 6:45 a.m. and capture of HTV-9 is scheduled to occur around 8:15 a.m. and coverage of HTV-9’s final installation will begin at 9:30 a.m.
HTV-9 will approach the station from below and slowly make its way toward the orbital outpost. Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA, with assistance from Russian Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos, will operate the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm from the station’s cupola and grapple the 12-ton spacecraft.
HTV-9-launch
The cargo includes six new lithium-ion batteries needed to complete an overall update of the station’s electrical system. The batteries and corresponding adapter plates will replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two power channels on the station’s far starboard truss segment (S6) through a series of spacewalks by the station’s crew members planned for later this year. This is the final set of new batteries to be launched to the station as part of an overall upgrade of its power system that began in January 2017. Learn more about the science experiments and technology heading to station on the related articles.
At the time of launch, the International Space Station will be flying about 256 statute miles over the Atlantic Ocean just off the southern coast of Brazil.
Related articles:
Last of NASA’s Vital, Versatile Science ‘EXPRESS Racks’ Heads to Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/last-of-nasas-vital-versatile-science.html
New European Drawer Rack set for Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/new-european-drawer-rack-set-for-space.html
JAXA HTV-9 Spacecraft Carries Science, Technology to the International Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/jaxa-htv-9-spacecraft-carries-science.html
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
NASA TV: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Norah Moran/JAXA/NASA TV/SciNews.
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