iss060m262671528_JAXA_HTV8_Launch_2019_0924

JAPANESE CARGO SHIP LAUNCHED TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION An unpiloted Japanese cargo ship was launched Sept. 24 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H-IIB rocket to send the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-8) to orbit on a four-day journey to deliver more than four tons of supplies, spare parts and experiment hardware to the International Space Station. A significant component of the cargo are a half-dozen new lithium-ion batteries and accompanying adapter plates that will replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two of the station’s power channels on the far port truss (P6 truss) of the complex.