With Cygnus in orbit, NASA’s commercial partner Orbital ATK is back in business hauling supplies to the space station.
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After several days of delay due to bad weather, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday (December 6, 2015), loaded with vital cargo to resupply the International Space Station.
A United States shipment of much-needed groceries and other astronaut supplies rocketed toward the International Space Station for the first time in months Sunday, reigniting NASA’s commercial delivery service.
The vehicle will arrive at the space station on Thursday, and is likely to deliver roughly 4 tons of supplies, like a life sciences facility, Microsoft HoloLens sets, microsatellite launcher and other tools.
Orbital is one of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the station after the space shuttles were retired in 2011.
Supplies at the station have been running low following several failed supplied runs.
Orbital bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas 5, for this supply mission.
“We came out here Friday night and sat for an hour and a half and then we came out here last night because we didn’t see that it was canceled and then we came out here tonight”.
If all goes according to plan, in a few days, Commander Scott Kelly, who is now spending one year in space, can look forward to unloading more food supplies, clothes and plenty of science experiments – the results of which can help benefit future missions.
An Orbital rocket exploded on a supply run in October 2014, while SpaceX suffered a launch failure in June.
On Sunday, private spaceflight company Orbital ATK returned its Cygnus cargo ship to flight with a superb afternoon launch after a year’s gap. Normally used for hefty satellite launches, it is the mighty successor to the Atlas used to put John Glenn into orbit in 1962.
The six space station astronauts managed to photograph the rising capsule from their windows as both craft made their way over the Atlantic.
This is the first time that the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V has served the space station. It is expected to return to flight by next summer.
SpaceX – also part of NASA’s commercial crew effort – aims to restart station deliveries in January with its Falcon rockets.
2015 has been a hard year for the mission.
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There are no astronauts inside Cygnus.
