Today’s mission will be the first time an operational Cygnus flies in space. Once on its own in orbit, a pair of solar array wings will deploy from the base of the 17-foot-tall cylindrical spacecraft and it will go through a robust series of checks and evaluations to make sure its systems are ready to approach the station. A rendezvous with the orbiting outpost is scheduled for Sunday. Cygnus will get within reach of the station’s robotic arm. The arm will latch onto the spacecraft and pull it onto the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.
Astronauts will unload about 1,300 pounds of cargo in the following days. Orbital Sciences developed Cygnus under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services partnership. The spacecraft will be released to fly into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up to end the mission.
For a few quick facts about Cygnus from Orbital, click here.
Here’s how the typical Cygnus mission will unfold: