The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard, launches from Pad-0A of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Saturday, November 2, 2019.
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Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft completed a critical safety milestone on Monday in an end-to-end test of its abort system.
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At 4:10 a.m. EST, Expedition 61 NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch of NASA used the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 to grapple the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft as NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan monitored Cygnus systems during its approach. Next, ground controllers will command the station’s arm to rotate and install Cygnus, dubbed the S.S. Alan Bean, on the bottom of the station’s Unity module.
The station was flying over Madagascar when it was captured.
NASA Television coverage of installation will begin at 6:30 a.m., and installation of the Cygnus spacecraft to the space station is expected to be completed later this morning. Cygnus will remain at the orbiting laboratory for a two-month stay.
Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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A Northrop Grumman cargo ship carrying about 8,200 pounds of science and research investigations, supplies, and hardware is set to arrive to the International Space Station early Monday morning.
The uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft launched at 9:59 a.m. EDT Saturday, Nov. 2 on an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
When Cygnus, dubbed the S.S. Alan Bean, arrives to the space station on Monday, Nov. 4, Expedition 61 astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Cygnus, and NASA’s Andrew Morgan will monitor telemetry. After Cygnus’ capture, ground controllers will command the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Unity module for a two-month stay.
Live coverage will begin on NASA TV at 2:45 a.m. and return to the air at 6:30 a.m. for installation coverage. Watch at www.nasa.gov/live
Learn more about space station activities by following @Space_Station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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The solar arrays have successfully deployed on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft that is on its way to deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies, and hardware to the International Space Station. This is the company’s 12th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA.
This mission, designated NG-12, will be in orbit at the same time as its predecessor, the NG-11 Cygnus spacecraft, which launched in April on an extended duration flight. The NG-12 Cygnus spacecraft will remain at the space station until January before it disposes of several thousand pounds of trash through its fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. The ability to fly two vehicles at once further demonstrates the robustness of Cygnus to support the goals of NASA’s ambitious missions.
Coverage of the spacecraft’s approach and arrival to the orbiting laboratory will begin Monday, Nov. 4 at 2:45 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Expedition 61 astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Cygnus at around 4:10 a.m., while NASA’s Andrew Morgan monitors telemetry. The spacecraft is scheduled to stay at the space station until January.
Meanwhile, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) flight controllers at Tsukuba, Japan are preparing to deorbit the HTV-8 cargo vehicle tonight, with the final deorbit maneuver expected around 8:33pm Central time, 9:33pm Eastern time. HTV-8 will enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up harmlessly over the south Pacific.
Follow the Cygnus spacecraft’s arrival to the orbiting laboratory on the space station blog and by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.
Mark Garcia
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