KOUNOTORI6 Mission Completed
Last Updated: February 7, 2017
Post-mission press conference (Credit:JAXA)
KOUNOTORI6 (HTV6) descended to an altitude of 120km over the east coast of New Zealand and reentered the Earth’s atmosphere at around 0:06 a.m. on February 6. KOUNOTORI6 successfully completed its cargo supply mission to the ISS.
| Estimated Reentry* Time | 0:06 a.m. February 6 (3:06 p.m., February 5, UTC) |
|---|---|
| Estimated Splashdown Time | 0:18 a.m. ― 0:42 a.m., February 6 (3:18 p.m. ― 3:42 p.m., February 5, UTC) |
* Altitude:120km
In addition to hardware for the ISS, experiment devices and water and fresh food grown in Japan, the HTV6 mission delivered six new battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) consisting of new lithium-ion battery cells manufactured in Japan. Later, the batteries were installed and activated successfully. These batteries are the crucial parts of the ISS as they store electrical energy generated by the station’s solar panels. Additional 18 battery ORUs will be delivered by the future HTV missions to sustain prolonged operations of the ISS until 2024.
*All times are Japan Standard Time (JST. UTC + 9 hours)
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