Space station crew grabs new cargo ship from orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A brand new Japanese space station cargo ship arrived at its destination Thursday, expertly plucked from orbit by an astronaut who toasted the first-ever event with her crewmates.
Space station resident Nicole Stott used the robot arm at the orbiting complex to grab the 18-ton supply ship as it hovered 30 feet away. The vessel — the first of its kind — was launched a week ago from Japan.
It was the first time an unmanned ship was grabbed from orbit like this. The older-style Russian ships actually dock at the space station. So do Europe’s freighters.
Mission Control erupted in applause when the robotic snares tightened on the vessel 225 miles above the planet. Stott gave a double thumbs-up.
“It’s a real example of international cooperation, with a Japanese vehicle captured by a Canadian arm with American and European astronauts, with a safety guy from Canada, under the command of a Russian,” said Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne.
The six space station occupants celebrated by raising specially decorated foil drink bags with straws and sipping the water inside.
“We are so, so happy to have this beautiful vehicle here with us now,” Stott told Mission Control. She said the crew was looking forward to finding all the surprises tucked among the 5 tons of contents, after opening the hatch on Friday.
The craft is loaded with food, laptop computers, atmospheric studies and a robotic hand. The hand will supplement the larger Japanese robot arm that’s already there.
A few hours after the capture, the astronauts anchored the ship onto the space station. The craft will remain there until the beginning of November, when it will be set free to deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere.
Japan spent $680 million on the delivery trip. It plans one a year.
NASA will rely more and more on these types of crew-less cargo ships, once the space shuttles are retired in another year or two.
Stott moved into the space station late last month; she flew up aboard Discovery.
On the Net:
NASA: www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/station/main/index.html
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