Japanese Unmanned Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station.
On July 27, 2012 the Japanese HTV 3 (Kounotori 3) unmanned supply spacecraft completed a successful rendezvous with the orbiting complex.
First the HTV 3 spacecraft flew to about 12 meters away from the ISS, where it was grabbed at 12:23 UTC by the space station's 18-metert long robotic arm, which was controlled from inside by American astronaut Joseph Acaba and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
Using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, Acaba and Hoshide maneuvered Kounotori 3 to the Earth-facing docking port on the space station's Harmony node at 14:34 UTC.
The spaceship is loaded with 3,600 kg of cargo, including care packages with food, clothing and other items for the space station's crew.
