This picture seems simple enough. Here we have a shot of the module Kounotori2 preparing to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). The Kounotori2 was launched a week prior to this photo being taken. One might wonder; who would wait such a long time from being launched to finally arriving at the station? Robots. The Kounotori2 is a remotely controlled module that is guided up by staff on the ground. The convenience of this method is being able to launch when a window opens up, and then spend as much time as needed in transit to the ISS once in orbit. If it were a human controlled module, then it would need to be launched at a certain date in order to arrive at the ISS within it's limited transit time. Shorted up: Robots give schedule flexibility.
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| Kounotori2 preparing to dock at the ISS |
The arm being extended to capture the incoming module is the Canadarm2. Any ideas where it's from? Canada + Arm = Canadarm. Brilliant, eh?
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