Japan launched a cargo ship bound for ISS, carrying a 'space junk' collector

NEW DELHI: Japan on Friday launched Kounotori a space capsule that will carry supplies to the International Space Station, and experiment with a grand method to clean up space debris orbiting around earth. The cargo ship is also carrying other materials for the ISS including batteries and drinking water for the astronauts living there. The space capsule — called Kounotori, or white stork — contains nearly 5 tons of food, water and other supplies, including six new lithium-ion batteries for the station ' s solar power system. Astronauts will conduct spacewalks next month to replace the old nickel-hydrogen batteries that store energy generated by the station ' s big solar panels. Orbital debris consists of non-natural objects of transitional size and form that orbit the earth. These include space vehicles that are no longer active, objects used by spacecraft during their missions, and debris produced when they were destroyed. More than 20,000 of these bits of ' debris ' are bigger than a softball and pose a threat to active spacecraft - like the International Space Station - since they can move as fast as 28,163.5 kmph, says the US ' National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA). But they don ' t even need to be that big to be hazardous, since at such great speeds, even bits of paint can cause damage, the space agency explains. Though, actual instances of spacecraft being destroyed by space debris have been few and far between: French satellite sustained damage after a flopping with debris in 1996, and American satellite was taken out by a non-function Russian satellite in 2009, NASA adds.