Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is guided to its installation point on the space station’s Unity module by the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation at the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments, launched atop the company’s Antares rocket at 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. At 5:52 a.m., NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio as backup, captured Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is pictured moments before being captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm by NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg. Credit: NASA TV
NASA’s live coverage of the installation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft at the International Space Station is underway. At 5:55 a.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio acting as backup, captured the Cygnus spacecraft using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Cygnus is carrying over 8,200 pounds of supplies, hardware, and science experiments.
This is Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA. Northrop Grumman named the Cygnus spacecraft the S.S. Laurel Clark in honor of the late NASA astronaut, undersea medical officer, and naval flight officer, Laurel Clark.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until October before it departs for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website are providing live coverage of the spacecraft’s installation.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm following its capture as both spacecraft orbited above Africa. Credit: NASA TV
At 5:52 a.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio acting as backup, captured Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Mission control in Houston will actively command the arm to rotate Cygnus to its installation orientation and then to guide it in for installation on the station’s Unity module Earth-facing port.
NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s installation beginning at 7:30 a.m.
The Cygnus spacecraft launched Tuesday, Aug. 1, on the company’s Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 8:31 p.m. This is Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The Cygnus spacecraft is carrying a supply of over 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
Northrop Grumman named the Cygnus the S.S. Laurel Clark in honor of the late NASA astronaut, undersea medical officer, and naval flight officer, Laurel Clark.
The Cygnus space freighter is pictured moments away from being captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm above northern Iraq on Feb. 21, 2022.
NASA television is underway for the capture of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft at the International Space Station. The spacecraft launched Tuesday, Aug. 1, at 8:31 p.m. EDT on the company’s Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
At about 5:55 a.m., NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg will capture Cygnus using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio will act as backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
This is Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The Cygnus spacecraft is carrying a supply of over 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
Northrop Grumman named the spacecraft the S.S. Laurel Clark in honor of the late NASA astronaut, undersea medical officer, and naval flight officer, Laurel Clark.
NASA Television, the NASA app, and agency’s website will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s installation beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Astronaut Stephen Bowen performs research activities using the BioFabrication Facility, an experiment platform to print organ-like tissues.
A wide variety of research kept the Expedition 69 crew busy aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. In the meantime, the orbital residents will welcome a U.S. cargo craft on Friday then turn their attention to a spacewalk next week.
Four astronauts from NASA and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) were back to work following a day off on Wednesday. The quartet had its hands full on Thursday studying how microgravity affects biology, physics, and robotics.
Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen serviced blood samples to assess how the immune system changes in weightlessness. Flight Engineer Frank Rubio swapped samples inside the Materials Science Laboratory, a research facility designed to discover new applications for existing materials and new or improved materials. Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg monitored the Astrobee robotic assistants that were controlled by student-written algorithms in support of the Astrobee-Zero Robotics competition for youth. Astronaut Sultan Alneyadi worked throughout the day on life support maintenance before familiarizing himself with the BioFabrication Facility, a 3D biological printer.
After the science work, all four flight engineers joined each other and called down to the next crew to visit the station, SpaceX Crew-7, and discussed the crew swap targeted for the end of the month. Finally, the foursome wrapped up its day with a conference with mission controllers to discuss Cygnus’ arrival on Friday.
Cygnus is due to be captured at 5:55 a.m. EDT on Friday when Hoburg commands the Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and grapple the U.S. resupply ship. Rubio will be backing up Hoburg monitoring Cygnus as it arrives packed with over 8,200 pounds of science and supplies. Cygnus began its trip to the station after launching at 8:31 p.m. on Tuesday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Just five days after Cygnus arrives, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin will exit the Poisk airlock in their Orlan spacesuits for the year’s 10th spacewalk. They have been reviewing procedures this week for when they install micrometeoroid orbital debris shields and relocate hardware on the outside of the orbital lab on Aug. 9.
The duo from Roscosmos took a break from spacewalk preparations today and studied how living in space affects digestion and ways future crews may pilot planetary spacecraft and robots. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev also participated in the space digestion study before attaching electrodes to himself for a 24-hour session measuring his heart activity and blood pressure.
Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket with the Cygnus cargo craft atop launches on time from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA/Patrick Black
Expedition 69 is awaiting an orbiting U.S. cargo craft carrying over 8,200 pounds of science and supplies for delivery on Friday. The International Space Station’s residents split their day on Wednesday as four astronauts took the day off while three cosmonauts prepared for a spacewalk next week.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is orbiting Earth racing towards the orbital lab after its successful launch from Virginia at 8:31 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. NASA Flight Engineers Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio will be on duty Friday morning when Cygnus begins its slow, methodical arrival for capture. Hoburg will command the Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and grapple Cygnus at 5:55 a.m. after its final approach on Friday. Rubio will back up Hoburg monitoring Cygnus and its telemetry as it nears the space station.
Mission controllers on the ground will remotely take control of the Canadarm2 after Cygnus’ capture and install it to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port about two hours later. Cygnus is scheduled to end its stay at the orbital lab at the end of October.
Both astronauts along with NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen and UAE (United Arab Emirates) Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi relaxed Wednesday setting some time aside for their daily workouts. The quartet will get back to work on Thursday with a research schedule filled with life science, materials physics, and robotics. The foursome will have one more Cygnus conference with mission controllers on the ground, then get a good night’s sleep before beginning a full day of cargo activities.
Next week, two cosmonauts are scheduled to begin the year’s tenth spacewalk. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin are due to exit the Poisk airlock on Aug. 9 to install micrometeoroid orbital debris shields and relocate hardware. The duo spent Wednesday reviewing the upcoming spacewalk procedures and configuring their Orlan spacesuits.
Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev worked Wednesday photographing the condition of Earth’s forests using a high-power camera. The first-time space flyer, who also joined Prokopyev and Petelin for the spacewalk review, will be in the Nauka science module at the controls of the European robotic arm assisting the spacewalkers next week.
Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket with the cargo-packed Cygnus space freighter atop counts down to liftoff from its launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA/Patrick Black
The Cygnus space freighter sits atop its Antares rocket from Northrop Grumman counting down to a launch today from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Packed aboard Cygnus are over 8,200 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, spacewalk gear, hardware, and computer equipment.
Antares will fire its engines at 8:31 p.m. EDT today launching the Cygnus cargo craft into Earth orbit. Just over nine minutes later Cygnus will separate from its booster. It will then deploy its solar arrays just over two hours after that beginning a two-and-a-half-day trip to the International Space Station.
Expedition 69 will be awaiting Cygnus as NASA Flight Engineer Woody Hoburg prepares to capture the U.S. resupply ship with the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 5:55 a.m. on Friday. NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio will be on backup duty monitoring Cygnus’ approach and rendezvous.
Mission controllers on the ground will remotely take control of the Canadarm2 after Cygnus’ capture on Friday and install it to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port about two hours later. Cygnus is scheduled to end its stay at the orbital lab at the end of October.
Hoburg and Rubio brushed up on their robotics skills mid-Tuesday practicing Cygnus capture techniques on a computer then reviewed Cygnus’ approach and rendezvous timeline. Rubio also serviced temperature and humidity control hardware in the Kibo laboratory module. Hoburg attached electrodes around NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen’s eyes to measure any space-caused eye, brain, and blood vessel changes.
UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi spent most of his day on maintenance tasks. He configured demonstration hardware in Kibo that will help scientists conduct space experiments from Earth. Afterward, Alneyadi installed visual inspection hardware to observe the internal performance of life support gear located in the Tranquility module. Finally, the UAE’s first long-term station resident photographed Hoburg and Bowen during their biomedical activities.
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 5:23 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 21, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station. The adjusted date allows additional time for launch site processing at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available at 3:49 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 25.
Two cosmonauts are once again preparing for another spacewalk for more work outside the station’s Roscosmos segment. Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin began gathering tools and reviewing procedures today to install micrometeoroid orbital debris shields and relocate hardware during a spacewalk planned for Aug. 9. Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev is training for his role when he will be at the controls of the European robotic arm assisting the spacewalking duo.
