The last of Japan’s first series of HTV supply ships went on Tuesday at the International Space Station with several tons of garbage, old batteries, and unnecessary equipment, on their way to a destructive upgrade before the debut of an upgraded cargo ship design.
The cargo ship HTV was released from the space station’s Canadian-built robotic arm at 1:36 a.m. EDT (1736 GMT) to remove an 85-day stay at the bypass outpost.
Astronauts closed the gaps between the HTV and the station’s Harmony module on Monday in preparation for the spacecraft’s departure. Ground teams then planned to use the robotic arm to detach the HTV from its space station port and maneuver it to a location about 30 meters, or 9 meters, below the complex.
Space Station Commander Chris Cassidy sent the command for the robotic arm to release the HTV Tuesday. Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner assisted Cassidy at a robotic workstation in the space station’s dome module.
The HTV fired thrusters to leave the vicinity of the space station, and set for a sequence of fires to re-enter the atmosphere on Thursday at 03:07 EDT (0707 GMT). Serving as a trash can for trash, the spacecraft will burn on re-entry aimed at escaping across the South Pacific.
Japan’s ninth HTV carrier arrived at the station on May 25, five days after launching from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard a Japanese H-2B rocket. The HTV 9 mission delivered more than 13,600 pounds, or 6.2 metric tons, of cargo, supplies and experiments in its pressure module and on its external loadload bay, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.
The barrel-shaped H-2 Transfer Vehicle is the nickname Kounotori, which is Japanese for “white stork”, and extends over 33 feet (10 meters) long and 14 feet (4.4 meters) wide.
The HTV 9 mission carried six new lithium-ion batteries to the station in its unprecedented charge compartment. NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken installed the upgraded batteries on the space station’s solar power, completing a multi-year upgrade to the research laboratory’s electrical system.
A cargo pallet loaded with eight obsolete nickel-hydrogen batteries was robotically installed in the HTV 9 spaceship for disposal. Astronauts also placed a no longer needed resupply rack and a European stowage rack in the HTV prior to its departure from the space station on Tuesday.
The latest set of used nickel-hydrogen batteries will be jettisoned by its robotic arm later this year due to its robotic arm to naturally fall out of orbit due to aerodynamic drag.
“It has been a real honor for the members of Expedition 63 … to welcome HTV, conduct operations in it, and now be part of its departure on the ninth class spaceship,” Cassidy said after the departure of the HTV 9 mission. “Congratulations to our colleagues and friends at JAXA.”
The HTV 9 mission marks the definitive flight of Japan’s current HTV spaceflight design, first launched by the space station in 2009. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is developing an upgraded truck named HTV-X, which is intended to fly to the space station for the first time in 2022.
“HTV is the latest Japanese truck of the series, but this latest departure is the beginning of a new chapter for (JAXA), which is developing a next-generation HTV-X truck,” said Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai, who ‘ t served as a spaceship communicator at NASA’s mission control center in Houston for Tuesday’s operations. “With the upgraded capabilities of the new car, we will expand our activity in space, not only on ISS, but above low Earth orbit. We look forward to HTV-X in the very near future. Until then, say goodbye to HTV. Arigato (en) sayonara, Kounotori. ”
Unlike the HTV, which is secured by the robotic arm and equipped with the space station, the Japanese HTV-X is designed to dock directly with the orbital post, using the same docking ports as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner crews.
JAXA provides services for newer offers to the space station to help pay for Japan’s share of the research laboratory’s operating costs. In addition to the mission for space station in low Earth orbit, Japanese officials say the HTV-X spaceship could bring logistics to the future mini-space station Gateway by the moon.
Japanese H-2B launcher also retired with the definitive HTV flight. The HTV-X missions will launch on Japan’s next generation H3 rocket.
The HTV-X could also provide further outposts than the International Space Station, such as the planned Gateway mini-space station in an orbit around the moon.
Other equipment delivered to the station in May by the Japanese HTV 9 mission included a module to support a Japanese combustion experiment, a camera from a Spanish company that will be tested to measure usability on small satellites and CubeSats, new scientific accounts for the NASA space station and the European Space Agency, plus a water tank and fresh food for the research lab crew
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