On September 14, 2012 at 05:26 UTC the Japanese HTV-3 unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. The spacecraft was expected to break apart and burn up from the heat of re-entry, and any leftover debris fell into a predetermined zone in the southern Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile. The re-entry marked the end of a 55-day mission for the disposable cargo craft, which lifted off July 21 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. It was attached to the International Space Station for 47 days.
On September 12, 2012 the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), Kountori 3 left the International Space Station. Using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), Kountori 3 (HTV3) was moved to the releasing point below the station and released from the SSRMS at 15:50 UTC. After the release, the unmanned supply spacecraft performed separation maneuvers to depart from the ISS proximity. The Kountori 3 is scheduled to reenter the atmosphere on September 14.
On September 5, 2012 astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide performed their second spacewalk. They completed the installation of a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) that was hampered last week by a possible misalignment and damaged threads where a bolt must be placed. They also installed a camera on the International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes. The MBSU is a heavy component that is used to relay power from the station’s solar arrays to its systems. Sunita Williams surpassed Peggy Whitson during the September 5 excursion for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. Whitson worked outside for 39 hours and 46 minutes over the course of six spacewalks. Williams has conducted six spacewalks for a total of 44 hours and 2 minutes.
On August 30, 2012 U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide performed almost a record long spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), NASA reported. The spacewalkers spent 8 hours and 17 minutes in the outer space doing maintenance work on the ISS. The longest spacewalk of 8 hours and 56 minutes was made by U.S. astronauts Susan Helms and James Voss in 2001. Williams and Hoshide, however, failed to fulfill their task of installing a new Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) on the International Space Station’s s-zero truss as they had difficulties driving the bolts to secure the equipment.
On August 20, 2012 Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yury Malenchenko completed a five hour and 50 minute spacewalk having carried out all planned maintenance tasks on the International Space Station (ISS). The cosmonauts moved the "Strela-2” cargo boom from the "Pirs” docking compartment to the "Zarya” module and installed micrometeoroid debris shields on the exterior of the "Zvezda” service module. They also launched the "Sphere” microsatellite and collected a number of bio specimens from the surface of a docking module as part of the "Biorisk” scientific experiment. The unique Biorisk experiment studies the impact of vacuum, subzero and hot temperatures and radiation on biological objects. It is impossible to simulate these processes on Earth. Both Padalka and Malenchenko are veteran cosmonauts with a lot of exp
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On August 20, 2012 at 15:22 UTC the "Progress M-15M” unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft sank in the South part of the Pacific at 16:12 UTC.
On August 2, 2012 at 01:18 UTC the Russian "Progress M-16M” unmanned supply spacecraft automatically docked with the International Space Station just only six hours after blasting off from Earth. It was for the first time, when Russia docked the space freighter with the ISS in the first six hours after the launch rather than in two days, which was a routine procedure. Progress-M-16M delivered over 2639 kilograms of supplies, including food, water and scientific equipment, to a six-man crew onboard the orbital station.
On August 01, 2012 at 19:35 UTC the "Progress M-16M” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the "Soyuz-U” rocket-carrier. For the first time Russia will attempt to dock the space freighter with the ISS in the first six hours after the launch rather than in two days, which is a routine procedure. Progress-M-16M is to deliver more than 2500 kilograms of supplies, including food, water and scientific equipment, to a six-man crew onboard the orbital station. The docking is scheduled for 05:24 a.m. Moscow time (01:24 UTC) on the fourth revolution of the cargo spacecraft around Earth.
On July 30, 2012 at 21:16 UTC (July 31 at 01:16 Moscow time) the Russian Progress M-15M unmanned supply spacecraft undocked form the International Space Station. The spacecraft will conduct a series of scientific experiments under the Radar-Progress project during a three-week scientific mission before being de-orbited into the Pacific. The project focuses on the study of space engines impact on the ionosphere. The Progress M-15M arrived at the ISS in April. The freighter undocked from the ISS on July 23 to test an upgraded Russian automated rendezvous system. The first attempt to re-dock with the ISS using the Kurs-NA system resulted in failure. The spacecraft, however, successfully docked with the orbital station on a second attempt on July 29 after Russian engineers had reprogrammed on-board controls.
On July 29, 2012 at 01:00 UTC the Russian Progress M-15M unmanned supply spacecraft re-docked with the International Space Station. A second attempt to re-dock the Russian Progress M-15M resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) with the help of a new rendezvous system was performed successfully. The spacecraft docked to the Russian "Pirs” module.
