Prelaunch Briefing Saturday for Northrop Grumman CRS-18 Launch

A large, white rocket stands vertical on a launch pad, a thin trail of white exhaust exiting toward the middle of the rocket. A tall, white water tower stands next to the launch pad against a pale blue sky. In the foreground, blurred out, are the heads of shoulders of people looking at the rocket.
File photo of the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen on Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport prior to launch, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

A prelaunch briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website today beginning at 1 p.m.  to highlight launch preparations for Northrop Grumman’s 18th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station to deliver more than 8,200 pounds of research, supplies, and hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

Viewers can submit questions for the briefings using #askNASA on social media.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on the company’s Antares rocket from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of the state.

The prelaunch briefing participants:

  • Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program
  • Heidi Parris, associate program scientist for the International Space Station
  • Steve Krein, vice president, Civil and Commercial Space, Northrop Grumman
  • Kurt Eberly, director, Space Launch Programs, Northrop Grumman
  • Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer Jr., CEO and executive director, Virginia Space
  • Jeff Reddish, range chief, NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility

 

L-48 Hour Forecast: Weather Continues to be 80% Favorable for Sun. Launch

The Wallops Range L-48 hour forecast issued today for the Nov. 6 launch of Northrop Grumman’s 18th resupply mission to the International Space Station continues to be 80% favorable for weather conditions, with the main concern being a slight chance of low-level clouds that may potentially violate cloud ceiling requirements.

Unseasonably warm conditions and tranquil weather are expected through this weekend. A cold front will be located over the Appalachian Mountains Sunday morning, providing light southerly surface flow and upper-level cirrus cloudiness over the Wallops Region. An increase of low-level moisture over the Wallops region due to the light winds may provide some low-level clouds over the Wallops region near launch time. At this time, the primary concern for launch would be a slight chance of low-level clouds.

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting 5:50 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 6, for the launch.

A large, white rocket with the words “ANTARES” in black letters stands vertical on its launch pad, surrounded by four poles used for lightning protection. To the right of the rocket, a water tower with long, spindly white legs has a white dome on top, with a dark logo that’s not fully visible. To the left of the rocket, is a large, open metal structure with a smaller circular structure on its side. There are several tall, gray light poles placed around the road. All of this is framed against a light blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station stands vertical on Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 18th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-18 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, and is scheduled to launch at 5:50 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2022, EST. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jamie Adkins)

L-72 Hour Forecast: 80% Favorable Weather for Sun. Launch

A large, white rocket with the words “ANTARES” in black letters stands vertical on its launch pad, surrounded by four poles used for lightning protection. To the right of the rocket, a water tower with long, spindly white legs has a white dome on top, with a dark logo that’s not fully visible. To the left of the rocket, is a large, open metal structure with a smaller circular structure on its side. There are several tall, gray light poles placed around the road. All of this is framed against a light blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station stands vertical on Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 18th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-18 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, and is scheduled to launch at 5:50 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2022, EST. Photo Credit: (NASA/Jamie Adkins)

The Wallops Range weather office forecast issued today for the Nov. 6 launch of Northrop Grumman’s 18th resupply mission to the International Space Station puts weather at 80% favorable, with the main concern being a slight chance of low-level clouds that may potentially violate cloud ceiling requirements. 

Unseasonably warm conditions and tranquil weather are expected through this weekend. A cold front will be located over the Appalachian Mountains Sunday morning, providing light southerly surface flow and upper-level cirrus cloudiness over the Wallops Region. An increase of low-level moisture over the Wallops region due to the light winds may provide some low-level clouds over the Wallops region near launch time. At this time, the primary concern for launch would be a slight chance of low-level clouds.

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting 5:50 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 6, for the launch. 

Northrop Grumman CRS-18 Mission Prepares for Launch

The next resupply mission to the International Space Station from commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is preparing for launch during a window that opens 5:50 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 6,  at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. 

A large white rocket with a bright white flame trailing launches off a pad, a bright white plume of smoke spreading out underneath over a large area. The rocket is just over a large, white water tower. The sky is bright blue with no clouds, with bright green grass.
File photo of the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with the company’s Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches at 6:01 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station is carrying nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.
Photo Credit: NASA Wallops/Brian Bonsteel

Loaded with more than 8,200 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’s Pad 0A on Wallops Island. 

This Cygnus spacecraft is named S.S. Sally Ride, in honor of the first American woman in space. 

Live coverage of the launch will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app beginning at 5:30 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 6, with a prelaunch briefing Saturday, Nov. 5, at 1 p.m. EDT. 

Live coverage of the mission countdown is scheduled to begin at approximately 1:50 a.m. EDT on the Wallops IBM Cloud Video site. Note that the time changes from Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to Eastern Standard Time (EST) at 2 a.m., Nov. 6. 

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will be open for this launch. Gates open at 3:30 a.m. EST. Viewing locations on Chincoteague Island include Robert Reed Park on Main Street or Beach Road spanning the area between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The Virginia, Maryland and Delaware Atlantic beaches also provide good viewing locations. 

Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this launch includes curated launch resources, timely mission updates, and a virtual guest passport stamp following a successful launch. 

Follow launch activities at the launch blog and @NASA_Wallops and learn more about space station activities by following @Space_Station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the Wallops Facebook, ISS Facebook, and ISS Instagram accounts. 

Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations. 

Research investigations launching to the orbiting laboratory aboard this Cygnus include: 

  • a facility that attempt to advance 3D biological printing of human tissue in space 
  • a study taking advantage of microgravity to better understand catastrophic mudflows that can occur after wildfires 
  • Uganda and Zimbabwe’s first satellites developed as a part of the BIRDS program, an interdisciplinary project for non-space faring countries 
  • an investigation into how microgravity influences ovary function 
  • an experiment that studies if changes space-grown plants undergo to adapt to microgravity can be transmitted through seeds to the next generation 

Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.