Successful Berthing of the Demonstration Flight HTV at the ISS

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http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/

The HTV-1’s berthing was complete at 10:49 a.m. September 18, as the
HTV FCT confirmed the power and data transmission between the HTV-1
and the ISS. The hatch opening of the HTV's Pressurized Logistics
Carrier (PLC) is expected in the early morning of September 19. The
next HTV-1 Mission update will be posted on September 19.
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So Japan is happy that flying to the ISS was successful and then it
looks like China is happy about what they are doing in space.
- LRK -

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http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.d250ad11b26dc10b20fcd37105b9e552.71&show_article=1
China says will push space programme to catch up West
Sep 17 04:27 AM US/Eastern

China said Thursday its rapidly growing space programme was the
crowning achievement of the nation's high-tech transformation and
pledged to continue to develop it to close the gap with Western
countries.
snip

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published,
broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed
directly or indirectly in any medium
[So go read the article, especially the part where it says, "I
believe...." - LRK -]
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_says_will_push_space_programme_to_catch_up_West_999.html
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Alright, I am waiting to hear how happy our Congress is with what we
are doing in space.
OK, we are getting ready to make a big splash (hopefully) at a lunar
pole and mapping is started with LRO.

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http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_09-215_LRO_First_Light.html
RELEASE : 09-215
Sept. 17, 2009

NASA Lunar Satellite Begins Detailed Mapping of Moon's South Pole

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA reported Thursday that its Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully completed its testing and
calibration phase and entered its mapping orbit of the moon. The
spacecraft already has made significant progress toward creating the
most detailed atlas of the moon's south pole to date. Scientists
released preliminary images and data from LRO's seven instruments.

"The LRO mission already has begun to give us new data that will lead
to a vastly improved atlas of the lunar south pole and advance our
capability for human exploration and scientific benefit," said Richard
Vondrak, LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
in Greenbelt, Md.

LRO is scheduled for a one-year exploration mission in a polar orbit
of about 31 miles above the lunar surface, the closest any spacecraft
has orbited the moon. During the next year, LRO will produce a
complete map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail, search for
resources and safe landing sites for human explorers, and measure
lunar temperatures and radiation levels.
snip
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Is that enough to cheer about or do you want someone to say, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrkellogg
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[JAXA:0209] Successful Berthing of the Demonstration Flight HTV at the ISS
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*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
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Successful Berthing of the Demonstration Flight HTV at the ISS

September 18, 2009 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The Demonstration Flight H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) was successfully
berthed at the International Space Station (ISS) at 10:49 a.m. on
September 18 (Japan Standard Time, JST.)

The HTV started its final approach to the ISS, and was captured by the
ISS robotic arm at 4:51 a.m. on September 18 (JST.) Then at 10:49 a.m.
on September 18 (JST,) the HTV was berthed at the ISS after being
maneuvered by the ISS robotic arm.

The ISS onboard crew will transfer the cargo shipped in the
Pressurized Carrier of the HTV to ISS. Cargo in the unpressurized
carrier will be lifted out by the ISS and Kibo robotic arms to be
installed onto the Kibo's Exposed Facility. More details of the cargo
transfer operation will be advised as they become available.

Reference Link:
You can find out more detailed information on the following Web site.
http://iss.jaxa.jp/htv/

Successful Berthing of the Demonstration Flight HTV at the ISS

The Demonstration Flight H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), launched by the
H-IIB Test Flight Launch Vehicle on September 11, 2009 from the
Tanegashima Space Center, was successfully berthed at the
International Space Station (ISS) at 10:49 p.m. today, on September 18
(Japan Standard Time, JST.)
The Demonstration Flight HTV was docked at the ISS through the unique
Japanese method of being maneuvered by the ISS robotic arm. The HTV
onboard cargo is now ready to be unloaded at the ISS.
With the successful berthing at the ISS, the HTV mission overcame the
most critical point of the mission. However, the important operations
of cargo transfer, departure from the ISS, and re-entry to the
atmosphere still remain. We will do our utmost to successfully
complete all the tasks of the mission.

September 18, 2009
Keiji Tachikawa
President, JAXA

This page URL:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/09/20090918_htv_e.html
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Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html
snip
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http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_articles/shining_lamp_dark_side_moon
Shining A LAMP On The Dark Side Of The Moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched on June 18th,
2009, will return more data about the Moon than any previous mission.
The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), developed by Southwest
Research Institute, uses a novel method to peer into the perpetual
darkness of the Moon's so-called permanently shadowed regions - the
dark side of the moon.

LAMP is nearly identical to the successful Alice instruments developed
by SwRI, already flying aboard the joint NASA/ESA Rosetta spacecraft,
which is targeting the ancient comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and NASA's
New Horizons spacecraft, which will probe the atmospheric composition
of Pluto and search for an atmosphere over its large moon Charon. LAMP
weighs only 6.1 kilograms and uses only 4.5 watts of power.

snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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