Kounotori, Japan's HTV3 berths with International Space Station

JAXA HTV-3 Kounotori, Docked with ISS.

HTV-3, a Japanese cargo ship carrying 3.5 tons of supplies successfully berthed with the International Space Station yesterday, six and a half days after it was launched.

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba swung the orbiting outpost's robotic arm Canadarm2 to grab hold of the HTV3 spacecraft at 12.23 UT when it was flying high over the Indian Ocean.

Nasa Astronaut Joe Acaba

The space freighter, also known as Kounotori, meaning White Stork, was then drawn in to mate with the ISS's Harmony module where 16 bolts were connected and tightened to complete capture by 14.35 UT.

Acaba was assisted by fellow astronaut Akihiko (Aki) Hoshide, of the Japanese space agency JAXA during the HTV's critical approach to the station. They watched from the Cupola viewing room while at Canadarm2's controls.

The unmanned space craft had earlier moved in to wait at two pre-planned points below the ISS as final checks were made. An onboard laser sensor fired beams at reflectors attached to the bottom of the ISS to deliver precise positional information.

Then, with both the ISS and HTV speeding around the Earth at 27,700 km per hour, the bus-sized freighter moved to a distance of 10 metres ready to be grappled by the robotic arm.

As the moment approached, a NASA mission controller told the astronauts: "It looks beautiful from here. We are go for HTV3 capture."

HTV3 arrived carrying fresh food and supplies for the Expedition 32 crew aboard the space station, an aquarium or Aquatic Habitat (AQH) for fish that will follow on the next missions, a JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD), five CubeSats and the winning science experiments of the YouTube SpaceLab competition.

This Kounotori is the third HTV mission to the ISS. HTV1 demonstrated the craft's autonomous and remotely-controlled rendezvous capabilities in 2009. It was followed by HTV2 in January 2011 which delivered 6.7 tons of supplies to the ISS.

HTV3 will remain berthed to the space station until September when, having been loaded with rubbish, it will burn up in a controlled descent through the atmosphere.

Soyuz Progress (47P) M-15M Cargo Ship Fails to Dock with ISS

The Russian Progress M-15M resupply spacecraft, also known by its US designation of 47P, was set to dock to the International Space Station (ISS) for the second time at 9:57 PM EDT Monday night/1:57 AM GMT Tuesday morning, to test a new antenna for the Kurs automated rendezvous and docking system. However, a failure with the system has postponed the test until the 29th (1am UTC).

On July 22, the Progress M-15M cargo ship undocked from the International Space Station in preparation for a test of its new automated docking system, the Kurs-Na. It was supposed to use Kurs-Na to redock on July 23. It failed.

“The test was proceeding normally until about the time that the new Kurs-NA rendezvous system was to be engaged,” NASA officials said in a statement. “As commands were being issued to activate the Kurs system, a failure was annunciated, triggering a passive abort.”

Roscosmos has not announced the cause of the failure. The vessel has been maneuvered into a position that would allow for another attempt on July 29, after the Japanese HTV-3 resupply vessel is manually docked to the station.

Although Progress M-15M originally docked with ISS using the usual Kurs system when it first arrived in April, that system cannot be used this time. On May 9, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka disconnected Kurs in order to bring Kurs-Na online in preparation for this test.

If Roscosmos is unable to successfully dock the vessel using the Kurs-Na system, the vessel has already been prepared to leave the station. All cargo has been removed and its hold loaded with waste to be burned up in the atmosphere as soon as testing is complete.

The Kurs-Na system requires half as many antennae as the current system and is reported to require less power, has updated electronics, and improves safety. Russia may have another opportunity to test the system since Progress M-16M is scheduled to launch on August 1, just a few weeks away.

Progress M-16M is also known as Progress 48, since it is the 48th such resupply vessel to be launched. That vessel will not be relying on the new technology for its primary mission.

NASA X-37B Space Drone OTV-2 Returns to Earth Safely

The USAF X-37B designated Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV)-2 returned to Earth on Saturday, June 16th after 468 days 13 hours and 2 minutes on a voyage that orbited the Earth more than 7,000 times performing a classified mission.

OTV-2 received the command from its ground controller to return and initiated an autonomous firing sequence of its propulsion system to brake from its orbit and dive through the atmosphere for a reentry over the Pacific Ocean.

OTV-2 executed a series of turns similar to those performed by the Space Shuttle to dissipate speed as it navigated autonomously via GPS towards Vandenberg AFB in California. OTV-2 touched down on the 3-mile (4.8 kilometer) long runway at Vandenberg 5:48 a.m. local (8:48 a.m. EDT; 1248 GMT).

OTV-2′s flight and that of its sister ship OTV-1, is classified and will likely remain so.

It is that secrecy that has spawned speculation about the purpose of the both spacecraft ranging from a test-bed for new sensors and materials to being a prototype for a new generation of space weapons.

The U.S. Air Force maintains that both spacecraft are designed as test-beds for new technologies; however, the classified nature of the project will ensure that speculation will continue.

ESA's Automated Transport Vehicle (ATV): Edoardo Amaldi

Credits: ESA TV

Building on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) in the new scenario the pressurised Integrated Cargo Carrier would be replaced by a cargo re-entry capsule, equipped with a heat shield and able to bring back hundreds of kilograms of cargo and valuable experiments.

Such a project, named the Advanced Re-entry Vehicle (ARV), would use heritage from the Atmospheric Re-entry Demonstrator (ARD), which flew successfully in 1998, as well as the work done in the definition of past space transportation system concepts.

Re-entry systems are not new. The most complex was the NASA Shuttle but the Apollo programme also used a crude re-entry capsule. The concept of a re-useable re-entry system has been maintained by the Russians in the Soyuz Proton system, which is regularly used to upload astronauts and payloads to the ISS and return them safely to the Earth.

To add apersonal note: I was closely involved in the ATV programme for some years, as you will se from my blogsite and profile and our good friends, the Italians were always keen to put their stamp on prestigeous activities. So I wish them every success with these launches and subsequent flights.

The story so far ....

Production of the Automated Transfer Vehicles is gearing up. After the flawless flight of the first ATV, Jules Verne, the second, ATV Johannes Kepler, is being completed for launch later this year. Now the third ATV has been named after the Italian physicist and space pioneer Edoardo Amaldi.

Europe's ATV space freighter proved its maturity in 2008, when Jules Verne completed a demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS), docked with 4.5 tonnes of food, water, fuel, supplies and equipment, served as a propulsion module for six months and finally undocked and entered Earth’s atmosphere over the southern Pacific.

The ATV spacecraft are key to the Station's logistics and operations. They are an excellent demonstration of Europe’s capability in creating space infrastructure for human spaceflight and exploration. The first ATV was named after the visionary French science-fiction writer Jules Verne, and the second honoured German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler.

"Italy is a key European country in our participation in the ISS partnership. By naming ATV-3 after Edoardo Amaldi, we celebrate a great Italian, but also a committed European who understood the importance of pooling resources and minds together to achieve important results," said fellow Italian, Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director for Human Spaceflight.

The occasion was a press conference held in the presence of Sottosegretario Pizza, Ministry of Education, University and Research and Enrico Saggese, President of Italy’s ASI space agency at the Italian Ministry in Rome.

"We are paying tribute to a visionary mind, to a great scientist but also to an idea of cooperation that is embodied in the ISS partnership. The ATV is the first recurring production of an exploration spacecraft and places Europe a step closer to our partners.

"I am glad that Italy is taking so much pride in their participation in the ISS, which is a recognition of their human and industrial capabilities."