spacetoday.net: HTV arrives at ISS

Posted: Thu, Jan 27, 2011, 8:54 PM ET (0154 GMT)
HTV-2 docking with ISS (JAXA)

A Japanese cargo spacecraft reached the International Space Station on Thursday, carrying several tons of supplies and equipment for the station's crew. The H-2 Transfer Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) arrived near the station's Harmony module Thursday morning, and the station's crew grappled the spacecraft with the station's robotic arm at 6:41 am EST (1141 GMT) Thursday. The crew used the arm to berth the module with Harmony about three hours later, and hatches separating the station and spacecraft opened Thursday afternoon. The HTV-2, launched Saturday from Japan, carries nearly 4,000 kilograms of cargo, over half of it for NASA. The spacecraft will remain docked to the station until late March, when, filled with trash, it will be detached from the station and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.