Spacecraft

The HTV-6 cargo spacecraft capture by the International Space Station's robotic arm (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago the HTV-6 “Kounotori” spacecraft has been captured by the robotic arm Canadarm2 on the International Space Station, operated by Shane Kimbrough with the assistance of Thomas Pesquet. The Japanese space cargo ship, which blasted off last Friday, carries a huge amount of supplies and experiments. After its capture, it will take a little while before the HTV-6 starts getting moved to its berthing location on the Harmony module.

The HTV-6 cargo spacecraft blasting off atop a H-IIB rocket (Image NASA TV / JAXA)

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A little while ago the HTV-6 spacecraft blasted off atop a H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima space center in Japan for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. About fifteen minutes after the launch, the cargo spacecraft separated regularly from the rocket’s last stage, entered its preliminary orbit and deployed its solar panels and navigation antennas.

The Progress MS-4 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz U rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago the Progress MS-4 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz U rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it separated successfully from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its route. The cargo spacecraft began its resupply mission to the International Space Station also called Progress 65.

When the spacecraft was about to separate from the rocket’s last stage some problems with the reception of telemetry data started. It’s unclear whether the solar panels have been deployed and especially if it’s properly en route. The spacecraft was launched in the 2-day path but its status hasn’t been determined.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft (Photo courtesy Xinhua/Li Gang)

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In China was early afternoon when the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft landed in Inner Mongolia. The two crew members, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, were assisted by ground staff and are in good physical condition. Their mission began on October 17 so it was the longest Chinese manned mission.