Space station astronauts eager to open “golden treasure box” from Japan
A cargo ship from Japan pulled alongside the International Space Station on Wednesday, maneuvering close enough for the lab's robotic arm to reach out and grab it as the vehicles soared 260 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean.
HTV capture complete," Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui radioed from the ISS. I just want to say congratulations to all teams and people involved in this mission. Also, thank you very much for your hard work and support for the first HTV-X mission."
The HTV-X spacecraft is an upgraded cargo freighter replacing Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle, which successfully resupplied the space station nine times between 2009 and 2020. At the conclusion of the HTV program, Japan's space agency preferred to focus its resources on designing a new cargo ship with more capability at a lower cost. That's what HTV-X is supposed to be, and Wednesday's high-flying rendezvous marked the new ship's first delivery to the ISS.