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A new Cité de l'Espace
The space adventure park in Toulouse has completely redesigned and renewed its permanent exhibitions. The result is an interactive immersion into man's enthusiasm for the stars.
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@explorezmars: Curiosity live!
On Monday 6 August the Mars rover Curiosity should land on the red planet. From today Enjoy Space and Cité de l’Espace are offering you the chance to follow this event on Twitter, and then by video, direct from the NASA JPL in California!
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Soyuz in Guiana
This is the mythical rocket par excellence, the one that launched Sputnik, the first satellite and Gagarin, the first man in space. The CSG, Guiana Space Centre, is now one of its launch bases: a historic achievement.
Japanese HTV-3 freighter blast-off a success
An H-IIB rocket successfully placed the automatic Japanese HTV-3 cargo ship also known as Kounotori in orbit on Saturday 21 July. It is due to dock with the International Space Station on 27 July.
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| “Kounotori 3” atop its H-IIB launch vehicle blasted off on 21 July. Credit: JAXA |
It was 11:06, on Saturday 21 July, when the H-IIB rocket (the most powerful version of the H-IIA) lifted off from its launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Centre (Japan). In just a couple of seconds the spaceship was hidden by thick cloud. Faultlessly following its trajectory, the rocket then successfully placed the HTV-3 freighter in orbit (see the video below).
The HTV-3 is the third cargo ship to be sent to the ISS, International Space Station, by JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency. The three letters of HTV refer to H-IIB (for the launch vehicle) and Transfer Vehicle. The spaceship is also dubbed Kounotori, which means stork in the language of the Land of the Rising Sun, an allusion to the fact that this bird brings good news or a new-born infant whilst the HTV also transports “good news”, that is provisions and equipment needed aboard the ISS (but not the baby!).
The first HTV, grasped by the ISS’ Canadian robotic arm, in September 2009. Japan sent a second HTV in January 2011. The HTV-3 that blasted off on 21 July is to be captured in the same way next Friday. See this Enjoy Space portfolio on the first HTV mission.
Credit: NASA
This Kounotori 3 is due to rendezvous with the Station (aboard which Japanese astronaut, Akihiko Hoshide, is currently a resident) on Friday 27 July at 14:05 French time. It will then be captured by the Canadian robotic arm Canadarm 2 belonging to the orbiting complex so that it can be “mated” with the Harmony module according to a procedure similar to that used for the private Dragon cargo capsule (see this article). It should be noted, however, that it was the first HTV that inaugurated this capture method in September 2009.
This Enjoy Space feature explains all about HTV cargo ships.
Published on 23 July 2012
