An unmanned Atlas V (five) rocket arrived at its Cape Canaveral, Florida, launch pad Wednesday.
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The Atlas V rocket will be carrying a cargo ship filled with supplies to the International Space Station.
ULA reveals that everything is progressing towards the OA-4 launch of the Cygnus spacecraft for Orbital ATK under the NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.
The new Cygnus will carry more than 7,000lb of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory.
Orbital’s Antares rocket exploded during the last attempted resupply mission.
The Atlas is a stand-in for Orbital’s Antares rocket, still grounded following a 2014 launch explosion.
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren trained for the rendezvous and robotic capture of Cygnus after its December 3 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Science payloads will offer a new life science facility that will support studies on cell cultures, bacteria and other microorganisms; a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite that will be deployed from the space station; and experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids, clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel, and evaluate flame-resistant textiles.
The Launch Readiness Review – featuring NASA, Orbital ATK and United Launch Alliance Managers – analyzed the risks involved in the mission ahead of Thursday’s launch. “We are pleased that the enhanced Cygnus that bears his name will be able to provide up to 53 percent more in cargo weight to the International Space Station than our previously flown standard version”.
Tomorrow’s planned flight will be unique for various of reasons: the method of delivery to orbit and the amount of time to get the booster and its precious cargo off of the pad and into the early evening skies.
A successful Atlas V launch in October 2015.
An independent investigation completed by NASA around the anniversary of the Antares explosion found the cause was likely an explosion in a turbo-pump located in one of the rocket’s two engines. “If ULA fails, then questions will come regarding the feasibility of having the private sector supply the ISS, never mind taking crew to the ISS”, said University of Central Florida professor Roger Handberg, an expert in space policy.
Tom Wilson, a vice president at Orbital, said the objective is to deliver a fresh load of goods to the six station residents in plenty of time for Christmas. Cygnus will also help take out the trash – astronauts will fill up the spacecraft with unneeded items before releasing it to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
This will also be the first mission for Orbital’s reconfigured Cygnus capsule, which has room for 50 percent more cargo than before, and more than what SpaceX can carry.
It was too late to squeeze in a spare part to restore the space station to full power.
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off from…
