The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is in place at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Sealed inside the payload fairing atop the rocket is the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft filled with science, crew supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
Today’s NASA Social event from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will set the stage for tomorrow’s launch of the fourth cargo resupply mission by Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft. A series of speakers will detail different aspects of the mission along with the research and accomplishments of the International Space Station during presentations that will begin at 9 a.m. and run through 10:30 a.m. EST. Although the event will take place at Kennedy, it will also be aired on NASA TV’s Education channel, which you can watch at http://go.nasa.gov/1B8xmT9 or in the streaming window below.
The launch day forecast remains at 60 percent “go” for the liftoff of an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket Thursday at 5:55 p.m. EST. The primary concerns are cumulus clouds, disturbed weather and thick clouds at launch time. Our launch coverage on the NASA Blog and on NASA TV will begin at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Flying from Space Launch Complex 41, the rocket and spacecraft have a 30-minute window to be able to launch and meet up with the International Space Station in orbit. The Cygnus, an enhanced version carrying more materials than the standard models that flew before, is loaded with more than 7,300 pounds of equipment, supplies and experiments for the station and its crew. Some of the Cygnus payloads will contribute directly to research by astronaut Scott Kelly during his one-year mission on the station. This flight also includes other science cargo include a microsatellite deployer and the first microsatellite to be deployed from the station.
You can read more about the mission here.
Launch week at Kennedy will be as busy as ever heading toward the Dec. 3 liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft stuffed with 7,300 pounds of supplies and equipment for the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for 5:55 p.m. EST. The launch will be shown live on NASA TV and covered here on the NASA Blog from the launch site beginning at 4:30 p.m.
There are numerous briefings and activities planned leading up to launch. The details can be found here. Here’s a quick look at the briefings on tap for next week, too. All will be shown on NASA TV which can be streamed at www.nasa.gov/ntv:
ISS SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PANEL ON NASA TV
Wednesday, Dec. 2: An ISS Science, Research and Technology briefing will be held at Kennedy’s Press Site at 1 p.m. NASA Television will provide live coverage, as well as streaming Internet coverage.
Participants will be:
PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE ON NASA TV
Wednesday, Dec. 2: A prelaunch status will be held at Kennedy’s Press Site at 2 p.m. NASA Television will provide live coverage, as well as streaming Internet coverage.
Participants will be:
POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE ON NASA TV
Thursday, Dec. 3: A post-launch news conference will occur at about 8 p.m. and NASA Television will provide live coverage, as well as streaming Internet coverage.
Participants will be:
Orbital ATK’s enhanced Cygnus spacecraft was transported to Space Launch Complex 41 early this morning and was lifted to the top of a waiting United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for launch Dec. 3 on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Sealed inside a protective payload fairing, the 20.5-foot-long Cygnus left the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at about 3:20 a.m. EST. It arrived at the pad at about 5:30 a.m. A crane at the Vertical Integration Facility at SLC-41 hoisted the spacecraft and fairing into place on the Atlas V with the first phase of the connection complete around 9:30 a.m.
The spacecraft and fairing will be secured in place and a series of tests run to confirm a proper attachment. The enhanced Cygnus, which carries 25 percent more mass than the previous version, has been loaded with more than 7,100 pounds of equipment and supplies that will be used by the space station crew for daily operations and to conduct cutting edge science on the orbiting laboratory. Launch time Dec. 3 is 5:55 p.m. EST to set up a rendezvous with the station Dec. 6. The launch window extends 30 minutes. Photo credits: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis
The enhanced Cygnus spacecraft and more than 7,100 pounds of cargo have been enclosed inside a payload fairing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as processing moves ahead on schedule for a Dec. 3 launch. The Orbital ATK Cygnus will be moved to Space Launch Complex 41 early Friday and lifted to the top of a waiting United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The spacecraft, which will carry no people, is to lift off aboard the Atlas V to take equipment, experiments and supplies to the International Space Station for use by the residents there including yearlong-crew member astronaut Scott Kelly. Speaking to the news media last week, Orbital ATK’s Dan Tani – a former astronaut who served as a station resident – said a 
new round of cargo always brings excitement: “It’s a real morale boost. It’s like coming home from the store and unpacking the trunk full of the things you bought. A lot of stuff you didn’t know you needed along with a lot of things like notes from home and other items that are really meaningful.”
The enhanced Cygnus can carry about 25 percent more mass than its predecessor and features upgraded Ultraflex solar arrays that unfurl like a fan into a circle and are lighter than the previous models. For NASA, the increased capacity brings the obvious benefit of taking more to the station at once, ranging from daily supplies of food and clothing for the station residents to new experiments so astronauts can continue to use the space-based laboratory to the benefit of all on the Earth. For the astronauts, the new round of cargo brings excitement. Photo credits: top – NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis, below – NASA/ Kim Shiflett.
Engineers are opening the hatch on the Enhanced Cygnus spacecraft and the spacecraft is being rotated to its horizontal position today in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center during preparations for launch December 3 to the International Space Station.
The Orbital ATK-built spacecraft, which will carry more than 7,000 pounds of equipment, experiments and supplies, is being moved and opened so teams can load the last of the gear slated for this resupply mission. The stowage loading will take place Nov. 8 to 10.
Also on Nov. 8, the Delta Mariner will dock at Port Canaveral to deliver the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will lift the Enhanced Cygnus into orbit. The booster stage will be hoisted into the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Nov. 11. The latest version of the Cygnus is bigger than its predecessors and can carry 25 percent more supplies on unpiloted missions to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Orbital ATK technicians have finished loading fuel and oxidizer into the Cygnus service module and are already preparing to remove the hatch and rotate the spacecraft from vertical to horizontal inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The move will allow team members to pack away late-stow cargo items bound for the International Space Station.
The spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the company’s fourth commercial resupply flight to the orbiting laboratory. Photo by NASA/Kim Shiflett.
The Cygnus spacecraft that will carry nearly 6,000 pounds of cargo on the next U.S. resupply flight to the International Space Station moved late yesterday from the Space Station Processing Facility to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Today it moves into the building’s high bay, where it will be uncovered, removed from atop its transporter, and placed into a work stand to begin preparations for propellant loading next week.
Developed and built by Orbital ATK, the Cygnus comprises the pressurized cargo module and attached service module, which houses the solar arrays and propulsion system. The spacecraft is set to deliver equipment, supplies and research to the station on the company’s fourth Commercial Resupply Services flight.
Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled for Dec. 3 from Space Launch Complex 41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The Centaur upper stage slated to help deliver the next U.S. cargo delivery to the International Space Station is on site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The upper stage will top the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket set to launch Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft on a flight to carry equipment, supplies and research to the orbiting laboratory in December.
Following its Tuesday afternoon arrival, the single-engine Centaur was transported into the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37 to begin prelaunch processing.
The uncrewed flight will be Orbital’s fourth commercial resupply mission to the station. It is targeted for liftoff Dec. 3 from Space Launch Complex 41.
