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The ISS just dumped 3,300 lbs of space trash to burn up in Earth's atmosphere
by Matt Bradwell
Houston (UPI) Aug 15, 2014


Hello Kitty on space mission
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 15, 2014 - Hello Kitty has been sent on her first space mission, as Japan's global icon of cute celebrates its 40th birthday in extraterrestrial fashion.

A Kitty figure is now circling the Earth aboard a small satellite equipped with a digital message board, part of government-funded project to attract private companies into the space business.

The initiative calls on fans to come up with short messages that will be flashed on the board sitting above the four centimetre (1.5 inch) cat, according to Kitty's creator Sanrio.

The white feline with a red bow sits by a window looking back at Earth, with the board displaying messages of up to 180 characters in English and Japanese.

"It can be a message that you want to send from space to someone special on Earth, or it can be something more general," a spokesman for Tokyo-based Sanrio said Friday.

The satellite was launched in June from Russia.

The moon-faced mouthless white cat first appeared in 1974 on a coin purse in Japan and has since built up a worldwide fan base, appearing on tens of thousands of products, from handbags to aircraft, in some 130 countries.

At some point on Sunday, nearly 3,300 pounds of trash will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, disposing of waste produced by the International Space Station and giving astronauts a chance to study atmospheric re-entry.

Astronauts aboard the ISS bid farewell to the "SS Janice Voss" Cygnus resupply ship at roughly 6:40 a.m. Friday, about 90 minutes after unberthing it from the station. Using a Canadian-built robotic arm called an SSRMS, the resupply craft was held ten meters from the station, allowing it to safely use its own thrusters to detach and successfully ascend into it's planned orbit.

Launched on July 16 filled with over 3,600 pounds of supplies -- including equipment, food, mini-satellites and clothing -- the Janice Voss now contains just under 3,300 pounds of waste from the space station that will burn up in Earth's atmosphere on Sunday.

"I am very proud of our Antares and Cygnus teams for their exceptional performance on the mission to deliver vital equipment and supplies to the crew aboard the Station," David W. Thompson, president and chief executive officer of Orbital Sciences said in a statement. Orbital Sciences is a private company that built the Cygnus and works with NASA on certain missions.

"I also want to pay tribute to our former Orbital colleague and NASA astronaut, the late Dr. Janice Voss, for whom this spacecraft is dedicated."

Janice Voss flew on five orbital missions before dying in 2012 at the age 55.

Well done! @Astro_Alex @astro_reid. @OrbitalSciences #Cygnus released from #ISS after delivery of cargo & month stay pic.twitter.com/PkPaT0Oipg— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) August 15, 2014

Watch live now as #Cygnus #Orb2 departs #ISS. http://t.co/ANi9i2W5Uz pic.twitter.com/7k6gz6tkcU— NASA (@NASA) August 15, 2014

Watch @OrbitalSciences #Cygnus cargo ship detach from #ISS; will burn up post de-orbit burns http://t.co/3VbdwdghAx pic.twitter.com/mHVtG856vH— Jimmy Lin (@jimmylin1) August 15, 2014

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