Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 44 Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is making final preparations for the arrival of JAXA’s Kounotori 5 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5). NASA Television is providing live coverage, which also can be seen online at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Yui will command the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, to reach out and grapple the HTV-5, while NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren provides assistance and Scott Kelly monitors HTV-5 systems. Capture is scheduled for approximately 6:55 a.m. The HTV-5 launched aboard an H-IIB rocket at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. Since then, the spacecraft has performed a series of engine burns to fine-tune its course for arrival at the station.
The unpiloted cargo craft, named “Kounotori,” which is Japanese for “white stork,” is loaded with more than four-and-a-half tons of research and supplies, including water, spare parts and experiment hardware, for the six-person International Space Station crew.
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