Author: Steven Siceloff

Launch Day for Orbital ATK CRS-6!

Cygnus Orbital ATK OA-6 RolloutGood afternoon from Florida where the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft “S.S. Rick Husband” and a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket are poised to launch tonight on a mission carrying close to 7,500 pounds of experiments and equipment to the International Space Station, along with supplies the crew living on the orbiting laboratory needs. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:05 p.m. EDT from here in Florida. There is a 30-minute launch window tonight and the weather forecast continues to call for a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.

Our continuous countdown, launch and ascent coverage will begin here on the NASA Launch Blog and on NASA TV at 10 p.m.

This is the company’s fifth scheduled cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. It is the second flight of Orbital ATK’s enhanced Cygnus featuring a larger pressurized cargo model with increased capacity and an optimized service module design including lightweight UltraFlex solar arrays.

A launch today will result in the Cygnus spacecraft arriving at the space station on Saturday, March 26. Space station crew members Tim Kopra of NASA and Tim Peake of the European Space Agency will use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and capture Cygnus at about 6:40 a.m. NASA TV coverage of Cygnus capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. Installation operations are expected to begin at 9:25 a.m. NASA TV coverage resumes at 9:15 a.m.

If the launch does not occur on today, the next launch opportunity would be at 10:40 p.m. tomorrow. Rendezvous, grapple and berthing of Cygnus would remain on Saturday, March 26. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Cygnus/Atlas V at Launch Pad

OA-6/Atlas V being rolled out to Pad 41 for launch.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft stack has been rolled to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ahead of tomorrow’s liftoff. Launch time is 11:05 p.m. EDT at the start of a 30-minute window. The mission calls for the Cygnus to deliver more than 3 1/2 tons of experiments and supplies to the International Space Station where astronauts will help conduct research to improve life on Earth and prep NASA for a journey to Mars by future astronauts. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Forecast Improves: 90 Percent ‘Go’

OA-6 payload being transported from the PHSF to VIF - in transit: photos only of it at the VIF, Pad 41.

Meteorologists with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing offered an improved forecast for Tuesday night’s launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft and more than 3 1/2 tons of experiments and supplies to the International Space Station. Launch time is 11:05 p.m. EDT, the start of a 3-minute window. For continuing updates, you can subscribe to this blog, log on to www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk, and read NASA and NASAKennedy’s Social Media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

Our continuous countdown coverage will begin here on the Launch Blog and on NASA TV tomorrow at 10 p.m. We will follow all the milestones as the launch team executes their meticulous steps leading up to liftoff, then the climb into orbit and culminating with the separation of the Cygnus and the unfurling of its twin solar arrays. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis

Forecast 80 Percent ‘Go’ for Tuesday Launch

Forecasters are calling for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time for the launch of Orbital ATK’s CRS-6 mission to carry experiments and supplies to the International Space Station. The primary concern is cumulus clouds during the 30-minute launch window that opens at 11:05 p.m. EDT. The Launch Readiness Review found no issues and gave a go for rollout of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on Monday. We have a couple of new features on this mission and its scientific payloads. For details on the scientific research carried on this mission, go to http://go.nasa.gov/1YWYrQv. You also can read the pre-launch feature at http://go.nasa.gov/1R4e4Tc

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis

Cygnus Stacked for Launch

OA-6 payload being transported from the PHSF to VIF - in transit: photos only of it at the VIF, Pad 41.OA-6 payload being transported from the PHSF to VIF - in transit: photos only of it at the VIF, Pad 41.Engineers hoisted the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft and bolted it to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as preparations continue on pace to launch the cargo mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 22, during a 30-minute launch window that begins around 11 p.m. EDT.

Working inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida, the engineers used the service structure crane to lift the Cygnus – tucked inside the protective payload fairing for flight – into place. The complete launch vehicle and fairing measure 191 feet tall. It will take about 21 minutes from launch for Cygnus to fly on its own in a precise orbit to catch the station. The Cygnus is automated to fly without crew members aboard. It will steer itself to a position within reach of the station’s 55-foot-long robotic arm. At that point, station astronauts and ground controllers will grasp the vehicle and position it in place on the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.

Then astronauts will unload more than 7,000 pounds of hardware including experiments geared toward unlocking the answers to long-duration spaceflight that crews will encounter in a future journey to Mars. Station research also focuses on solving problems of those on the Earth by using the unique orbiting laboratory for novel experiments across a wide range of disciplines.

 

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus Released From Station

Expedition 46 astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra of NASA commanded the International Space Station’s Candadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus spacecraft at 7:26 a.m. EST while the space station was flying above Bolivia. Earlier, ground controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center had maneuvered Cygnus into place for its departure.

Once the spacecraft is a safe distance from the station, its engines will fire twice, pushing it into Earth’s atmosphere where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean. The deorbit burn and re-entry of Cygnus will not air on NASA TV.

The Cygnus resupply craft arrived to the space station on Dec. 9, following Dec. 6 launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, for the company’s fourth NASA-contracted commercial station resupply mission.

Experiments delivered on Cygnus supported NASA and other research investigations during Expeditions 45 and 46, in areas such as biology, biotechnology, and physical and Earth science — research that impacts life on Earth. For more about the International Space Station, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/station

Cygnus Release on NASA TV Today

NASA TV is airing the release of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station this morning. The uncrewed spacecraft flew to the station in December loaded with supplies and equipment for the crew. Now holding only trash and expended hardware, the Cygnus was unberthed earlier today using the station’s robotic arm. Cygnus will guide itself into Earth’s atmosphere where it will burn up.

Release from the station’s Unity module is scheduled for 7:25 a.m. Watch live on NASA TV or online: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv. Join the conversation on Twitter by following @Space_Station. To learn more about all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/connect

Cygnus Soars Spaceward

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft is comfortably in space this evening following a thunderous ride to orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The spacecraft is stocked with more than 7,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for the International Space Station, including gear for continuing the scientific research on the orbiting laboratory. Read a complete account of the launch and its importance in the station’s work off the Earth, for the Earth and how research on the station will contribute to a future journey to Mars at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/cygnus-soars-spaceward-with-science-and-supplies-to-advance-space-station-mission

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Photo credit: NASA/Tony Gray & Tim Terry

 

Restocking the Space Station

The food and supply shelves of the International Space Station will be stocked well into May once the gear inside Orbital ATK’s Cygnus is unpacked and stowed in the orbiting laboratory, said NASA’s Ven Feng of the space station’s Transportation Integration Office.

“We are very proud to be back in space again,” said Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group.  “We have some more work in front of us of course, but we’re optimistic that’s going to go as planned. Everything was about as it could get.”