Tokyo: Japan`s first unmanned cargo
vehicle was connected to the International Space Station today
in the first step to unloading observation equipment and
supplies.
The vehicle, called HTV, reached a point some 10
metres away from the ISS after being put into orbit last week
with an H-2B rocket launched from the Tanegashima Space Center
in Kagoshima Prefecture, and astronauts at the station nabbed
it using a robot arm.
The successful acquisition of the HTV gives new hope
for manned spaceship development and its future role in
transporting supplies to the space station along with Russian
and European supply vehicles after US space shuttles are
decommissioned as early as in 2010.
Japan is scheduled to launch a total of seven
domestically made HTV single-use vehicles through 2015, one
each year.
This time, the HTV transported around 4.5 tons of
supplies, including freeze-dried food, bread, clothing and
shampoo, as well as SMILES stratospheric observation
equipment for Japan`s Kibo laboratory module on the ISS.
The HTV, 10 meters long and 4.4 meters in diameter,
has a wide 1.2-square meter entrance that enables it to carry
large cargo that other vehicles cannot transport.
After unloading the supplies, the HTV will load waste
at the ISS and head back to Earth, where it is expected to
burn out for the most part when it enters the atmosphere.
Bureau Report
