Sep 10 2009
From The Space Library
JAXA successfully launched its 16.5-ton (14.97-tonne, or 14,969-kilogram) H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV 1 ), loaded with 4.5 tonnes (4.96 tons) of cargo and supplies for delivery to the ISS. Liftoff occurred at 1:01 a.m. (EDT) from the Tanegashima Space Center, and JAXA confirmed separation from the rocket’s upper stage approximately 15 minutes later. HTV 1 , which carried both pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the ISS, was the first craft capable of transporting both types of cargo. The pressurized cargo included food, computer equipment, and other supplies. Also aboard was cargo that NASA and JAXA intended to use on JAXA’s Kibo module: NASA’s Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) and Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS) Experiment Payload (HREP), for studies of the ocean and atmosphere, and JAXA’s Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) instrument, designed to study the ozone layer. Masazumi Miyake, Deputy Director of JAXA’s Houston office, said that the launch signaled a new era for JAXA, opening New Horizons for Japan in its efforts to achieve human spaceflight. Miyake added that the HTV-1 mission was a demonstration flight to verify functionality and performance. However, after completing the mission, JAXA intended to launch an average of one operational HTV per year. HTV 1 represented Japan’s first attempt at a major orbital rendezvous and its first launch to a staffed space station. The HTV program, which Japan had been developing since 1997, had cost the United States US$700 million. The cost of the HTV spacecraft unit was US$200 million, not including the launch vehicle.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 671, 1 October 2009, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx671.html (accessed 16 September 2011); Robert Block, “Japan Enters New Era of Space Exploration,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 11 September 2009.
NASA announced the first successful full-scale, full-duration stationary test fire of the first-stage motor for the Ares-I rocket, the CLV in development for NASA’s Constellation Program. NASA and its industry partner ATK Space Systems had successfully conducted the test, which consisted of shooting a giant flame through the 154-foot (46.94-meter) rocket as it stood on a horizontal test stand, to ignite the 1.5 million pounds (0.68 million kilograms) of solid propellant coating the booster’s interior. The ignition shot flame at three times the speed of sound. The plume’s temperature reached 4,500°F, and the flame generated 3.6 million pounds (1.6 million kilograms) of thrust. During the firing of the five-segment solid development motor (DM 1), engineers gathered measurements from 650 sensors to evaluate acoustics, thrust, roll control, and motor vibrations. The event marked the second attempt to conduct the 2-minute test at ATK Space Systems’ test stand in Promontory, Utah. NASA had canceled the first test on 27 August, when it was already in progress, with 20 seconds remaining in the countdown. NASA’s engineering team had made this decision when the ground controller unit had a problem with a 30-year-old component that helped to move nozzle controls. Nozzle controls steer a rocket in flight. The engineering team had conducted a detailed investigation and had replaced a faulty part.
NASA, “NASA and ATK Successfully Test Ares First Stage Motor,” news release 09-198, 10 September 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_09-198_Ares_DM-1_test.html (accessed 15 September 2011); Mark Stark for Associated Press, “Rocket Test in Northern Utah Goes Off Problem-Free,” 11 September 2009; Todd Halvorson, “Ares I Scores a Victory: A Debut in Flame and Smoke,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 11 September 2009.
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