Japan's robotic cargo craft nears space station

[eppur_se_muova]

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 26, 2011

Five days after launching from southern Japan, an automated cargo freighter will arrive at the International Space Station Thursday with 8,500 pounds of fresh supplies, spare parts and science experiments.

The spacecraft has performed a series of engine burns since blasting off early Saturday from the Tanegashima Space Center, an island launching base in southern Japan. The thruster firings raised the ship's altitude and tweaked its approach to the complex, which flies 220 miles above Earth.

Nicknamed Kounotori 2, meaning white stork, the mission follows the HTV's successful first flight in late 2009. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, designed and built the HTV as part of its contribution to the space station program.

More maneuvers are planned in the final phase of the rendezvous, guiding the HTV through a series of hold points on the way to the space station.
***
more: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110126rendezvous/

[sakabatou]

1. So no sudden acceleration problems?

:evilgrin:

[NBachers]

2. Alright, you get credit for that one

[TheMadMonk]

3. The Space Shuttle's last gasp?

Assemble Shuttle-Cs from the last set of engines for each of the shuttles and any parts to hand, perhaps extending the lives of a few contracts to even out inventory. Replace with older decomissioned engines or even mockups for display purposes.

Shuttle-C never got off the ground for mainly political reasons. It stood to invalidate the spaceplane concept. Throw away the orbiter and the lift capacity increases enormously. Well goodbye orbiter.

No live cargo, so up the SRBs to 4 or even 6. Potentially there's 3-6 75 (to perhaps 100) ton launches to be had for little more than the cost of wages plus maintenance.

Develop a simple nacell plus heatshield that can be easily attached to a set of shuttle engines (and the associated pumps and avionics) in space and throw the things back at the ground. Replace the SRBs with a simple reusable kerosine/LOX engine + tankage. Carry the empty main tank to orbit and turn it into cubage. Why can't astronauts have their own little "quarter acre" (700 or so m^3) in space. The price is a bit of extra plumbing, a little supporting infrastructure like airlocks and connectors, and some air and water.

Even if the absolute cost per launch remains unchanged the price to orbit drops to 1-2k or so per lb. Better really if we can put our discards like fuel tanks to good use in orbit.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. We separate passengers from cargo on ships, trains, planes, highways ...

should have kept it that way in space.