spacetoday.net: Japan launches ISS cargo spacecraft

Japan launches ISS cargo spacecraft

Posted: Sat, Jan 22, 2011, 9:29 AM ET (1429 GMT)
H-2B launch of HTV-2 (JAXA)

An H-2 rocket successfully launched on Saturday the second Japanese spacecraft carrying cargo for the International Space Station. The H-2B lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 12:37 am EST Saturday (0537 GMT, 2:37 pm Japan time) and placed the H-2 Transfer Vehicle 2 (HTV-2)W, also called Kounotori 2, spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The spacecraft carries nearly 4,000 kilograms of cargo, over half of it for NASA. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Thursday, where astronauts will use the station's robot arm to grab the spacecraft and berth it with the station's Harmony module.