On September 04, 2013 the Japanese "HTV Kounotori-4” unmanned supply spacecraft departed the International Space Station. At 12:09 UTC by using the space station's robotic arm Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and US astronaut Karen Nyberg removed the HTV-4 cargo vehicle from its port on the Harmony module. At about 16:20 the spacecraft was released. It will be deorbited on September 07, 2013.
On August 22, 2013 Russian cosmonauts Fjodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin performed a spacewalk.
The spacewalk began at 11:34 UTC when the cosmonauts opened the hatch of the Russian "Pirs” module of the International Space Station. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 58 minutes.
It was the 41st spacewalk performed from the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
Former shuttle commander Charles Gordon Fullerton, veteran of two space flights who also flew NASA's B-52 launch aircraft and was one of only two non-Russians to fly the Tu-144 supersonic aircraft during a legendary 50-year career, died on August 21, 2013. He was 76. A NASA news release said the astronaut suffered a "severe stroke" in late 2009, spending the past three-and-a-half years in a long-term care facility in Lancaster, California, USA.
On August 16 Russian cosmonauts Fjodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin performed a spacewalk. The spacewalk began at 14:36 UTC when the cosmonauts opened the hatch of the Russian "Pirs” module of the International Space Station. The cosmonauts extended a telescoping space crane to help move large cable reels from "Pirs” to "Zarya”. The cosmonauts unreeled and routed two long power lines and an ethernet cable along the outside of the Russian "Zarya” module that will be connected to the new Russian "Nauka” module after its arrival next year. Misurkin also mounted a space exposure experiment pallet on a handrail outside the Russian ”Poisk” module. The spacewalk lasted 7 hours and 28 minutes. The hatch of the Russian "Pirs” module was closed at 22:05 UTC. The seven-hour 29-minute duration set a new Russian spacewalk record, eclipsing the old mark of seven hours
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On August 09, 2013 at 15:38 UTC the 4th Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV "Kounotori-4”) was installed on its berthing port of the "Harmony” module of the International Space Station. Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg, with the assistance of Flight Engineer Christopher Cassidy, initially grappled the HTV-4 with the station’s Canadian robot arm at 11:22 UTC as the Japanese spacecraft flew within about 10 meters of the ISS. Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano (Italy) joined the two NASA astronauts in the cupola to monitor the systems of the Japanese spacecraft during its approach. After equalizing pressures between the cargo spacecraft and the station, the crew is scheduled to open the hatches on August 10 and begin the process of removing the supplies from the Kounotori’s pressurized logistics carrier. The HTV-4 unmanned supply spacecraft delivered to the station about 3.6 tons of science experiments, eq
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On August 03, 2013 at 19:48 UTC the Japanese HTV-4 (H-2 Transfer Vehicle) unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The spacecraft was orbited by the Japanese H-2B rocket-carrier. The mission is Japan's fourth cargo delivery flight to the International Space station. The HTV 4 mission is also named Kounotori 4. Kounotori is the Japanese word for white stork. The spacecraft is to deliver about 5400 kilograms of cargo to the station’s crew. The docking with the ISS is to be performed on August 09, 2013.
On July 28, 2013 at 02:26 UTC the Russian "Progress M-20M” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian "Pirs” (Pier) module. The spacecraft carried 2366 kilograms of cargo for the six-member ISS crew.
On July 27, 2013 at 20:45 UTC (on July 28 at 00:45 Moscow time) the "Progress M-20M” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the "Soyuz-U” rocket-carrier.
On July 25, 2013 at 20:44 UTC the "Progress M-18M” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the Russian "Pirs” (Pier) module of the International Space Station. At 23:53 UTC the spacecraft’s engines were started for deorbiting. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft sank in the South part of the Pacific at 00:42 UTC on July 26.
On July 09, 2013 American astronaut Christopher Cassidy and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano performed a spacewalk. The hatch of the "Quest” module was opened at 12:02 UTC. The spacewalks carried out a variety of maintenance and installation tasks. They spent six hours and seven minutes outside the International Space Station. It was Parmitano's first spacewalk, making him the first Italian astronaut to walk in space, and the 5th EVA for Cassidy.
