The International Space Station's Canadarm2
grapples the unpiloted Japanese "Kounotori" H-II Transfer Vehicle-4 (HTV-4) as
it approaches the station.
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NASA
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The International Space Station's robotic arm,
Canadarm2, moves the H-II Transfer Vehicle-4 into position for berthing on the
Earth-facing port of the Harmony node.
Image Credit:
NASA TV
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Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy monitors the
installation of the H-II Transfer Vehicle-4 to the International Space Station's
Harmony node.
Image Credit:
NASA TV
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The fourth
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV-4 was installed
on its berthing port on the Earth-facing side of the International Space
Station’s Harmony node at 11:38 a.m. EDT Friday, delivering 3.6 tons of science
experiments, equipment and supplies to the orbiting complex.
Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg, with the assistance of Flight Engineer Chris
Cassidy, initially grappled the HTV-4 with the Canadian Space Agency-provided
arm at 7:22 a.m. as the Japanese space freighter flew within about 30 feet of
the complex. Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency joined
the two NASA astronauts in the cupola to monitor the systems of the Japanese
space freighter during its approach.
At the time of capture, the station was orbiting 260 miles just to the south
of South Africa.
With HTV-4 securely in the grasp of Canadarm2, the robotics team at the
Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center remotely commanded the arm to
guide HTV-4 to a ready-to-latch position on the Earth-facing port of the Harmony
node. Nyberg and Cassidy then used a laptop computer to conduct the initial
bolting and first stage capture of Harmony’s Active Common Berthing Mechanism
(ACBM) with HTV-4’s Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (PCBM). Once that was
done, the ground team completed the bolting process through second stage
capture.
Also known as Kounotori – Japanese for “white stork” because it is emblematic
of an important delivery – the HTV is a 33-foot-long, 13-foot-diameter unmanned
cargo transfer spacecraft capable of delivering both internal and external
supplies and hardware to the station. HTV-4 launched from the Tanegashima Space
Center in southern Japan on Aug.3 at 3:48 p.m. (Aug. 4 at 4:48 a.m., Japan
time).
After equalizing pressures between the cargo craft and the station, the crew
is scheduled to open the hatches Saturday and begin the process of removing the
supplies from the Kounotori’s pressurized logistics carrier.
Among the items within Kounotori’s pressurized section are test samples for
research experiments inside the Kibo laboratory, a new freezer capable of
preserving materials at temperatures below -90 F, four small CubeSat satellites
to be deployed from Kibo’s airlock as well as food, water and other supplies for
the station’s crew. The pressurized section also is delivering new hardware for
the Robotic Refueling Mission to demonstrate robotic satellite-servicing tools,
technologies and techniques.
The HTV-4’s unpressurized section is delivering two orbital replacement units
(ORUs) – a spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) and a spare Utility Transfer
Assembly (UTA) – to keep the space station’s electrical system operating
smoothly. The UTA maintains electrical continuity through the Solar Alpha
Rotary Joint, passing electrical power generated by the complex’s huge solar
arrays to station elements and payloads, while the MBSU provides switching
capabilities for the various power channels and sources. ORUs are modular
station components designed to be replaced periodically.
Also inside HTV’s unpressurized cargo hold is the Space Test Program –
Houston 4 (STP-H4) payload, which is a suite of seven experiments for
investigating space communications, Earth monitoring and materials science.
The exposed pallet to which all the unpressurized cargo is mounted will be
removed from Kounotori by Canadarm2, handed off to the Japanese Experiment
Module robotic arm and attached to a platform on the Kibo module’s Exposed
Facility over the weekend.
In early September, the cargo vehicle will be filled with trash, detached
from the station and sent to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
NASA Television to Broadcast Two Russian Spacewalks in
August
NASA Television will provide live coverage as two Russian cosmonauts venture
outside the International Space Station on spacewalks Friday, Aug. 16, and
Thursday, Aug. 22.
NASA TV coverage will begin at 10 a.m. EDT both days.
Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin will install equipment for the arrival of a new Russian module and begin preparations for the installation later this year of an optical telescope.
The two cosmonauts will exit the Pirs airlock at about 10:40 a.m. on Aug. 16 for a spacewalk scheduled to last about 6.5 hours. They plan to continue routing power and Ethernet cables for the future arrival of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which will be launched aboard a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They also will install on the Poisk module a panel of experiments designed to collect data on the effects of the microgravity environment in low-Earth orbit..
The Aug. 22 spacewalk also is scheduled to begin at about 10:40 a.m. Yurchikhin and Misurkin will remove a space laser communications system from the hull of the Zvezda service module and install a pointing platform on which a small optical telescope will be installed on a future Russian spacewalk.
The spacewalks will be the 172nd and 173rd in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the seventh and eighth of Yurchikhin’s career and the second and third for Misurkin. Yurchikhin will wear a Russian Orlan suit bearing red stripes, and Misurkin will wear a suit with blue stripes. Misurkin’s suit also will be equipped with a U.S. helmet camera to provide close up views of the work he will be performing outside the station.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:
For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit:
Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin will install equipment for the arrival of a new Russian module and begin preparations for the installation later this year of an optical telescope.
The two cosmonauts will exit the Pirs airlock at about 10:40 a.m. on Aug. 16 for a spacewalk scheduled to last about 6.5 hours. They plan to continue routing power and Ethernet cables for the future arrival of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which will be launched aboard a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They also will install on the Poisk module a panel of experiments designed to collect data on the effects of the microgravity environment in low-Earth orbit..
The Aug. 22 spacewalk also is scheduled to begin at about 10:40 a.m. Yurchikhin and Misurkin will remove a space laser communications system from the hull of the Zvezda service module and install a pointing platform on which a small optical telescope will be installed on a future Russian spacewalk.
The spacewalks will be the 172nd and 173rd in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the seventh and eighth of Yurchikhin’s career and the second and third for Misurkin. Yurchikhin will wear a Russian Orlan suit bearing red stripes, and Misurkin will wear a suit with blue stripes. Misurkin’s suit also will be equipped with a U.S. helmet camera to provide close up views of the work he will be performing outside the station.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:
For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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