Engineering:Kounotori 8
H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-8) being grappled by the Canadarm2 on 1 November 2019. | |
Mission type | ISS resupply |
---|---|
Operator | JAXA |
COSPAR ID | 2019-062A |
SATCAT no. | 44546 |
Mission duration | 40 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Kounotori 8 |
Spacecraft type | HTV |
Manufacturer | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
Launch mass | 15800 kg [1] |
Dry mass | 10500 kg |
Payload mass | 5300 kg |
Dimensions | 9.8 metre of long, 4.4 metre of diameter |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 24 September 2019, 16:05:05 UTC [2] |
Rocket | H-IIB No. 8 |
Launch site | Tanegashima, Yoshinobu-2 |
Contractor | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Deorbited |
Decay date | 3 November 2019 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.66° |
Berthing at ISS | |
Berthing port | Harmony nadir |
RMS capture | 28 September 2019, 11:12 UTC [3] |
Berthing date | 28 September 2019, 14:09 UTC [4] |
Unberthing date | 1 November 2019, 13:45 UTC [5] |
RMS release | 1 November 2019, 17:21 UTC [6][7] |
Time berthed | 34 days |
Cargo | |
Mass | 5300 kg |
Pressurised | 3400 kg |
Unpressurised | 1900 kg |
Kounotori 8 (こうのとり8号機), also known as HTV-8 is the 8th flight of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, a robotic cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station. It was launched on 24 September 2019, 16:05:05 UTC.[8]
Spacecraft
Major changes from previous Kounotori are:[9]
- Replacement of Earth sensor with star tracker for spacecraft attitude control
- New cargo racks developed for HTV-X which allows 30% more Cargo Transfer Bags (CTB) to be carried in the Pressurized Logistics Carrier (PLC). (316 CTBs for Kounotori 8, compared to 248 CTBs of Kounotori 6)
Cargo
Kounotori 8 carries about 5300 kg of cargo, consisting of 3400 kg in the pressurized compartment and 1900 kg in the unpressurized compartment.[9]
Cargo in the Pressurized Logistics Carrier (PLC) include:[9]
- JAXA experiment Cell Biology Experiment Facility-Left (CBEF-L)
- JAXA experiment Sony Optical Link for ISS (SOLISS), a satellite optical communication demonstration co-developed with Sony Computer Science Laboratories (ja)
- JAXA experiment Hourglass, which will investigate the behavior of soil and rock particles under low gravity conditions[10]
- Gas bottle for JAXA experiment
- Experiment materials for Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF)
- CubeSats to be deployed from ISS: NARSSCube-1, AQT-D, RWASAT-1
- NASA system supply cargo: new water tank for Water Storage System (WSS)
- NASA system supply cargo: tank for Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS)
In the Unpressurized Logistics Carrier (ULC), Kounotori 8 carries six lithium-ion batteries Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) for replacing the ISS's existing nickel-hydrogen batteries. The transportation of replacement batteries is a continuation from the previous Kounotori 6 and 7, and will continue through to Kounotori 9.[9]
Operation
Launch
The H-IIB launch vehicle carrying Kounotori 8 was initially scheduled to be launched at 21:33:29 UTC, 10 September 2019.[11][12] During launch preparation, a fire broke out at the launch pad at around 18:05 UTC (T minus 3.5 hours), and the launch was called off.[13] The cause of fire was attributed to the static electricity on the heat resistant material under the mixture of liquid oxygen and gas oxygen for the engine pre-cooling.[14]
After the modification to the mobile launch platform to suppress static electricity, a new launch was scheduled at 23 September 2019, 16:30 UTC,[14] but the collision avoidance check revealed that the 2nd stage of the launch vehicle might approach near the Soyuz MS-15 which was scheduled to be launched on 25 September 2019. A revised launch schedule was set for 16:05 UTC, 24 September 2019.[15] On 24 September 2019, 16:05:05 UTC, the Kounotori 8 aboard H-IIB was launched successfully.[8]
Operation while berthed to the ISS
Kounotori 8 was captured by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) at 23:13 UTC, on 27 September 2019,[16] and berthed at Harmony's nadir Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) by 17:55 UTC, on 28 September 2019.[17]
The External Palette (EP8), which carries the lithium-ion battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORU), was extracted from the Kounotori 8's Unpressurized Logistics Carrier (ULC) by the SSRMS (Canadarm2) on 29 September 2019.[18]
The External Palette of Kounotori 7 (EP7) was placed in the Kounotori 8's ULC.[19] EP7 was left on the ISS after the departure of Kounotori 7 due to the schedule change of extravehicular activity after the launch failure of Soyuz MS-10.
Departure and reentry to the Earth atmosphere
On 1 November 2019, Kounotori 8 was detached from Harmony's CBM by the SSRMS (Canadarm2), and it was released into orbit at 17:20 UTC.[20]
It was disposed by the destructive reentry to the Earth atmosphere at around 02:09 UTC, on 3 November 2019.[21]
References
- ↑ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2019-062A - 14 May 2020 - 20 May 2020 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ Live coverage: Japanese cargo freighter set for launch to ISS
- ↑ ISS: Expedition 60
- ↑ Japan's Kounotori Spaceship Attached to Station This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ "Kounotori 8 was unberthed of Harmony". JAXA. 1 November 2019. http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-8/news/unberthed.html.
- ↑ @planet4589 (1 November 2019). "Aboard ISS, Japanese cargo ship HTV-8 was unberthed around 1230 UTC and released into orbit at 17:21 UTC. HTV-8 will carry out destructive deorbit over the South Pacific tomorrow night.". https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1190377806171119623.
- ↑ Expedition 61
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Launch Result of the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 25 September 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190925.html.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "宇宙ステーション補給機「こうのとり」8号機(HTV8)【ミッションプレスキット】" (in Japanese). JAXA. 30 August 2019. http://issstream.tksc.jaxa.jp/iss2/press/htv8_presskit_B.pdf.
- ↑ "JAXA to launch eighth HTV space station cargo mission in September". Spaceflight Now. https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/07/29/jaxa-to-launch-eighth-htv-space-station-cargo-mission-in-september/.
- ↑ "Launch Schedule of the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 29 July 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190729.html.
- ↑ "Launch Time of the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 9 September 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190909.html.
- ↑ "Launch Canceled, H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 11 September 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190911.html.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Updated Launch Schedule of the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 20 September 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190920.html.
- ↑ "Updated Launch Schedule of the H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 8 aboard the H-IIB Vehicle No. 8". Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 21 September 2019. https://www.mhi.com/notice/notice_190921.html.
- ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 28 September 2019. http://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-8/news/capture.html. - ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 29 September 2019. http://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-8/news/activation.html. - ↑ "Error: no
|title=
specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in Japanese). JAXA. 1 October 2019. http://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/mission/htv-8/news/ep_stowed.html. - ↑ Keeter, Bill (1 October 2019). "ISS Daily Summary Report – 10/01/2019". ISS On-Orbit Status Report. NASA. https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2019/10/01/iss-daily-summary-report-10012019/. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ↑ "Kounotori 8 Leaves the ISS". JAXA. 2 November 2019. http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-8/news/leaves.html.
- ↑ "Successful re-entry of H-II Transfer Vehicle "Kounotori 8" (HTV-8)". JAXA. 3 November 2019. https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2019/11/20191103a.html.
External links