A Japanese capsule blasted off with much-needed supplies for the International Space Station yesterday, a week after a Russian shipment was destroyed shortly after liftoff.
The Russian rocket accident and the grounding of one of NASA’s commercial suppliers make this delivery all the more urgent. The spacecraft would arrive at the station on Tuesday.
The capsule called Kounotori, or white stork contains nearly 5 tons of food, water and other supplies, including six
new lithium-ion batteries for the station’s solar power system. Astronauts will conduct spacewalks next month to replace the old nickel-hydrogen batteries that store energy generated by the station’s big solar panels.
This is Japan’s sixth shipment to the 250-mile-high outpost, currently home to Pesquet, two Americans and three
Russians. It launched from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
In a televised interview from the space station following yesterday’s launch, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson said there are already enough supplies to last until spring. The Japanese shipment will stretch that out even further.