NASA Sets Briefing, TV Coverage of Japan's First Cargo Spacecraft

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HOUSTON -- NASA will hold a news briefing at 12:30 p.m. CDT on
Wednesday, Sept. 2, to preview the maiden launch and flight of
Japan's unpiloted H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) cargo spacecraft to the
International Space Station.

NASA Television will broadcast the briefing live from NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston. Participants in the briefing will include
officials from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA). NASA TV also will broadcast live HTV's launch and flight.

The HTV is scheduled to lift off on an H-IIB rocket from JAXA's
Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at approximately noon
Sept. 10 (about 2 a.m. Sept. 11 Japan time). NASA TV coverage of the
launch will begin at 11:45 a.m. The HTV will augment the European
Space Agency's Automated Transportation Vehicles and the Russian
Progress ships that deliver supplies to the space station.

NASA conducted an HTV readiness review on Aug. 27. The HTV was
formally approved for flight and rendezvous. The launch window will
be open from Sept. 10-30. In the event of a launch postponement after
the H-IIB rocket is fueled, a 72-hour turnaround will be required
before the next launch attempt.

As the 16.5-ton cargo craft makes its week-long journey to the space
station, flight controllers in Tsukuba, Japan, and at Mission Control
in Houston will conduct a number of tests of HTV's rendezvous and
navigation systems.

NASA TV coverage of the cargo craft's arrival at the station will
begin at 2 p.m. Sept. 17. As the HTV moves within about 40 feet of
the orbiting laboratory, space station crew members will capture the
craft using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. The crew then will
attach the HTV to an Earth-facing docking port on the station's
Harmony connecting module. The robotic maneuvers are set to begin at
about 2:50 p.m. Sept. 17.

The HTV will remain attached to the station for about six weeks while
supplies are transferred. In addition to interior supplies and
equipment, two new experiments carried on the exterior of the HTV
will be moved to the Japanese Kibo module's external experiment porch
using a combination of maneuvers with the station's Canadarm2 and
Kibo's robotic arm.

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and streaming video,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station