Japan's unmanned ISS supply run is complete success

by Stevie Smith - Sep 18 2009, 15:30

An unmanned Japanese (JAXA) cargo vessel has successfully docked with the orbiting International Space Station without having suffered through any of the annoying delays that recently tarnished the space shuttle Discovery’s recent supply and maintenance mission.

Arriving at the station on Thursday, the H-2 Transfer Vehicle 1 (HTV-1) was draw to its final docking position by station resident and astronaut Nicole Stott, who utilised a gigantic robotic arm to grab the vessel and complete Japan’s first ever unmanned supply run.

“It just looks fantastic,” enthused Stott to jubilant NASA mission controllers in Houston as the shiny 10-metre vehicle approached the orbiting station. “We’re going to get some pictures and some video, full coverage of this.” 

“We had an amazing time doing this, we’re so happy to have this beautiful vehicle here,” she added. “We look very [much] forward to going in tomorrow and finding all the supplies that I’m sure you’ve stored there for us.”

The HTV-1 completed its smooth journey and docking manoeuvre with the International Space Station at approximately 19:47 GMT (15:47 EDT). The vehicle will remain docked until November 01, at which time it will detach and be destroyed during re-entry with the Earth’s atmosphere.

The space shuttle Discovery was plagued by delays and technical issues during its recent mission to the station, and was forced to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California late last week due to poor weather around the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With storms preventing its initial launch from Cape Canaveral, the Discovery was further delayed by a problematic fuel valve. And, once safely at the International Space Station, the crew were forced to perform the sensitive docking procedure with the vehicle’s main thrusters due to a malfunction with its smaller manoeuvring thrusters.

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