A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch Orbital ATK’s Cygnus™ spacecraft on the initial leg of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
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An uncrewed spacecraft loaded down with Christmas presents, food, children’s books and other cargo is flying through space, on its way to resupply the six residents aboard the International Space Station.
The Cygnus capsule, expected to arrive on Wednesday, will be the first U.S. shipment to the station since April. Orbital’s Antares rocket is still grounded following a 2014 launch explosion that damaged a Virginia launch pad.
In October 2014, an Orbital Antares rocket full of hundreds of kilos of provides exploded seconds after takeoff, marking the primary catastrophic failure since personal corporations started resupplying the orbiting outpost in 2010.
After the shuttle retired in 2011, NASA made a decision to contract out the missions to the space station, located in what’s called low Earth orbit, or about 220 miles from Earth.
Orbital ATK and SpaceX – which has a contract value United States dollars 1.6 billion to ship meals and gear to the analysis lab over a collection of provide journeys – are the one two U.S. corporations that may ship spacecraft to the ISS.
Plus, Cygnus will bring several student experiments on board, five of which first took flight on earlier, failed launches over the past year, along with replacement parts for the space station and added consumables for the crew.
Cygnus separated from its Atlas V booster about 21 minutes after launching into orbit.
Carrying 7,000 pounds of research materials that will directly support over dozens of key investigations on the orbiting laboratory, a cargo-laden Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft soared towards the ISS.
That is nearly as much cargo as Orbital delivered during a test flight and its two successful cargo missions.
“Liftoff, on the shoulders of Atlas”, Nasa spokesman Mike Curie said as the unmanned spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a white Atlas V rocket at 4:44 pm (2144 GMT).
After its fourth attempt, the Cygnus is finally on its way to the International Space Station. After going through a series of safety checks, it will make its final approach before being grappled by one of the station’s robotic arms and guided to a docking berth on the Unity module.
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The station now only has four months’ food supply aboard. A Russian Progress vehicle also failed earlier this year, but those launches have again resumed to the Space Station. The original S.S. Deke Slayton was the cargo craft lost in last year’s explosion. Toilet supplies run out in February, said station program manager Kirk Shireman.
