JAPANESE SPACE STATION SUPPLY CRAFT DEPARTS THE COMPLEX Loaded with trash and discarded items, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) unpiloted H-II Transfer Vehicle, the HTV-9 cargo craft, departed the International Space Station Aug. 18, bound for a deorbit and fiery entry into the Earth’s atmosphere Aug. 20 following a three-month stay at the orbital outpost. Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA used the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the HTV-9 vehicle after it was detached from the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. This was the ninth and final HTV of this genre to visit the station. Over 11 years, the nine Japanese HTV cargo vehicles delivered more than 40 tons of supplies to station residents and new lithium-ion batteries to upgrade the station’s power system. JAXA is developing a new HTV vehicle, the HTV-X, which will be capable of delivering even more cargo to the station in the years ahead. It is targeted for a maiden launch in 2022.
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NASA ID
iss063m262311714_Expedition_63_HTV-9_Release_200818
Date Created
August 18, 2020
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video
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