![\"Japan's](\"https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/240\/2020\/08\/htv_departs_station.jpg\")
<\/a>Eleven years after the launch of the first H-II Transfer cargo vehicle (HTV) to the International Space Station<\/a>, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency\u2019s (JAXA\u2019s) HTV-9 departed the orbital laboratory today at 1:36 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n Earlier today, flight controllers operating from NASA\u2019s Mission Control Center at the agency\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston used the space station\u2019s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the cargo spacecraft from the station\u2019s Harmony module, then moved the spacecraft into its release position. Expedition 63<\/a>\u00a0Commander\u00a0Chris Cassidy<\/a>\u00a0of NASA used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the spacecraft from the station at 1:35 p.m., ending its three-month stay.<\/p>\n This was the final station departure of JAXA\u2019s first-generation Kounotori, or \u201cwhite stork,\u201d cargo craft, nine of which have delivered more than 40 tons of supplies to space station crews. \u00a0JAXA is developing a new fleet of HTV cargo craft, the HTV-X, which is targeted for its first launch in 2022.<\/p>\n The spacecraft launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on May 20, arriving May 25<\/a> to deliver about four tons of supplies and experiments<\/a> to the orbital complex, including new lithium-ion batteries that were used to upgrade the station\u2019s power systems. The new-technology batteries were installed through a series of spacewalks along the far port truss \u201cbackbone\u201d of the station.<\/p>\n HTV-9 will be commanded by JAXA flight controllers at its HTV control center in Tsukuba, Japan, to move away from the station and, on Aug. 20, to fire its deorbit engine in a burn that will send it back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Loaded with trash from the space station, the spacecraft will burn up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n For\u00a0nearly 20 years<\/a>, astronauts have continuously lived and work on the space station, testing technologies, performing science and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. As a global endeavor, 240 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.<\/p>\n Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station<\/a> and @ISS_Research<\/a> on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook<\/a> and ISS Instagram<\/a> accounts.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Garcia <\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eleven years after the launch of the first H-II Transfer cargo vehicle (HTV) to the International Space Station, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) HTV-9 departed the orbital laboratory today at 1:36 p.m. EDT. Earlier today, flight controllers operating from NASA’s Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston used the space … Continue reading