NASA TV Coverage Set for Japanese Cargo Craft Launch to Space Station

The launch of a Japanese cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station will be broadcast live on NASA Television on Sunday, Aug. 16, followed by live coverage of its arrival at the orbiting laboratory Thursday, Aug. 20.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch its H-II Transport Vehicle (HTV)-5 at 8:58 a.m. EDT (9:58 p.m. local time in Japan) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 8:15 a.m.

Loaded with more than 4.5 tons of supplies, including water, spare parts and experiment hardware for the six-person space station crew, the unpiloted cargo craft, named Kounotori, Japanese for "white stork," will blast off for a four-day journey to the station.

On Aug. 20, the HTV-5 will approach the station from below and slowly inch its way toward the orbital complex. Expedition 44 Flight Engineers Kimiya Yui of JAXA and Kjell Lindgren of NASA will operate the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and grapple the 12-ton spacecraft and install it on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module, where it will spend five weeks. Flight Engineer Scott Kelly of NASA will monitor HTV-5 systems during the rendezvous and grapple.

NASA TV coverage of the rendezvous and grapple of the HTV-5 on Aug. 20 will begin at 5:30 a.m. Capture is scheduled for approximately 7:10 a.m. Coverage of the final installation of the cargo craft to Harmony will resume at 9:30 a.m.

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

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA

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