The countdown is progressing smoothly and cryogenic tanking is in progress. However, weather forecasters have downgraded the prediction for today’s 30-minute launch opportunity to a 30 percent chance of acceptable conditions as a result of increasing thick and cumulus clouds.
Author: Anna Heiney
Atlas V Rocket Arrives at the Pad
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
Cygnus Propellants Loaded; Team Prepares for Final Cargo Installation
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.
Cygnus Spacecraft Moves to PHSF, Begins Early Preps for Propellant Loading
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.
Centaur Upper Stage Arrives Ahead of Next Station Commercial Resupply Flight
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.