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<\/a>About three months after delivering several tons of scientific experiments and supplies to the International Space Station<\/a>, Northrop Grumman\u2019s uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to depart the orbiting laboratory Wednesday, Jan. 6. This morning, flight controllers on the ground sent commands to use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to robotically detach Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the Unity module and maneuver it into place.<\/p>\n Live coverage of the spacecraft\u2019s release will air on NASA Television and the agency\u2019s website<\/a> beginning at 9:45 a.m. EDT, with its release from the robotic arm scheduled for 10:10 a.m.<\/p>\n NASA astronaut Kate Rubins<\/a> will monitor Cygnus\u2019 systems upon its departure from the space station.<\/p>\n The Cygnus resupply spacecraft is named in memory of Kalpana Chawla<\/a>, the first female astronaut of Indian descent. Chawla, who dedicated her life to understanding flight dynamics, died in the STS-107 space shuttle Columbia accident.<\/p>\n Cygnus arrived at the space station Oct. 5 with nearly 8,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations<\/a>, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo following an Oct. 2 launch<\/a> on Northrop Grumman\u2019s Antares rocket from NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.<\/p>\n For departure coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/spacestation\/<\/a>. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss<\/a>, ISS<\/a> on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station<\/a> and @ISS_Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Mark Garcia <\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About three months after delivering several tons of scientific experiments and supplies to the International Space Station, Northrop Grumman\u2019s uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to depart the orbiting laboratory Wednesday, Jan. 6. This morning, flight controllers on the ground sent commands to use the Canadarm2 robotic arm to robotically detach Cygnus from the Earth-facing \u2026 Continue reading