Live Coverage of Northrop Grumman CRS-17 Launch Concludes

Live coverage has concluded for Northrop Grumman’s 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station. The company’s Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off on time, 12:40 p.m. EST, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

A fresh supply 8,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo is now on its way to the International Space Station.

About 2 hours and 45 minutes after launch, Cygnus will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays.

Liftoff of Northrop Grumman’s CRS-17

Credit: NASA TV

The International Space Station-bound Cygnus spacecraft aboard Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket has lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

A fresh supply 8,300 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo is on its way to the International Space Station on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft after launching on an Antares rocket at 12:40 p.m. EST Saturday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

About 2 hours and 45 minutes after launch, Cygnus will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays.

 

Live Coverage of Today’s Antares Launch Now Airing

Live coverage has begun for Northrop Grumman’s 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station. NASA and its commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman are targeting 12:40 p.m. EST for the launch of the company’s Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

Live launch coverage also airs on NASA Television, as well as TwitterFacebook, and NASA’s App.

golden sky backdrop with white Antares rocket in center of frame, along with water tower and lightning suppression towers
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket illuminated by the rising Sun. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Patrick Black

Loaded with more than 8,300 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on the company’s Antares rocket from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

Highlights of space station research facilitated by this mission include:

  • study that examines the effects of a drug on breast and prostate cancer cells;
  • a new combustion facility
  • an investigation from Colgate-Palmolive that will leverage the acceleration of skin aging in microgravity to help create and validate an engineered tissue model to serve as a platform for testing potential products to protect aging skin
  • a demonstration of a lithium-ion secondary battery capable of safe, stable operation under extreme temperatures and in a vacuum environment
  • new hydrogen sensors that will be tested for the space station’s oxygen generation system
  • a system that will test hydroponic and aeroponic techniques for plant growth and will allow scientists to observe root growth through video and still images

a cube-like, small satellite, held by gloved hands
NACHOS CubeSat. Credits: Los Alamos National Laboratory

In addition, the Cygnus carries a small satellite called NACHOS: Weighing just 13 pounds, this prototype instrument could make it easier to monitor volcanic activity and air quality.

Launch Day Forecast Remains 75% Favorable

Northrop Grumman’s 17th commercial resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station, is scheduled to launch within a five-minute window that opens 12:40 p.m. EST today, Feb. 19.

The launch range forecast remains 75% favorable, with ground winds being the primary concern.

white rocket lifting off
April 2019 file photo of an Antares rocket launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Jamie Adkins

Launch of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft will be from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

Live launch coverage will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and NASA’s App, beginning at 12:15 p.m.

smiling Piers Sellers
April 2016 file photo of late astronaut Piers Sellers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Rebecca Roth

Loaded with more than 8,300 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft is named the S.S. Piers Sellers in honor of the late NASA astronaut who spent nearly 35 days across three missions helping to construct the space station. A tireless champion of Earth science, Sellers died in December 2016, more than a year after learning he had pancreatic cancer.

A launch on Saturday would put the Cygnus at the space station on Monday, Feb. 21. At about 4:35 a.m., NASA astronaut Raja Chari will capture Cygnus, with NASA astronaut Kayla Barron acting as backup. After Cygnus capture, mission control in Houston will send ground commands for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the station’s Unity module Earth-facing port.