Arrival of HTV

ISS020-E-040636 (17 Sept. 2009) --- Backdropped by a blue and white part of Earth and the blackness of space, the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) approaches the International Space Station. Once the HTV was in range, NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, all Expedition 20 flight engineers, used the station’s robotic arm to grab the cargo craft and attach it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node. The attachment was completed at 5:26 (CDT) on Sept. 17, 2009. A Russian spacecraft docked to the station is at bottom right.