Canadarm2 prepares to grapple the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle

ISS020-E-041304 (17 Sept. 2009) --- Backdropped by the blackness of space, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 prepares to grapple the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) as it approaches the Station. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and ESA 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 00:26 CEST on 18 September 2009.