This file photo from Feb. 22, 2021, show the Cygnus spacecraft from Northrop Grumman moments before its capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The solar arrays have successfully deployed on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft that is on its way to deliver approximately 8,300 pounds of scientific investigations, cargo, and supplies to the International Space Station. Cygnus launched on the Antares rocket at 12:40 p.m. EST Saturday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia.
Coverage of the spacecraft’s approach and arrival to the orbiting laboratory will begin Monday, Feb. 21, at 3 a.m. EST on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Astronauts Kayla Barron and Raja Chari will work together to guide Cygnus into place using the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
This file photo from Feb. 16, 2021, shows the Northrop Grumman CRS-15 Antares rocket on Pad-0A on Wallops Island Virginia. Credit: NASA Wallops/Patrick Black
The Wallops Range continues to predict 75% favorable weather 24 hours ahead of the launch window of NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft.
The primary concern for launch at this time is strong southwesterly surface winds that could violate weather constraints.
Northrop Grumman is targeting 12:40 p.m EST Saturday, Feb. 19, for the International Space Station-bound Cygnus spacecraft, loaded with about 8,300 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware. Launch will be from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Live coverage of the launch will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app beginning at 12:15 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 19.
For those in the mid-Atlantic region, weather permitting, you may have a chance to see the Antares rocket in the sky after launch. Check out the visibility map below.
This map shows how many seconds after launch the Antares rocket may be visible in the sky to the mid-Atlantic region.
The Wallops Range continues to predict 75% favorable weather for the Saturday, Feb. 19, launch window of NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The primary concern for launch at this time is strong southwesterly ground winds.
File photo from Aug. 10, 2021, showing liftoff of a Northrop Grumman Antares vehicle from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credits: NASA Wallops/Allison Stancil
Tune in Friday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. ET for a prelaunch briefing teleconference with the following participants:
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program
Jennifer Buchli, deputy chief scientist, International Space Station Program
Steve Krein, vice president, civil and commercial space, Tactical Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
Kurt Eberly, director, Space Launch Programs, Launch and Missile Defense Systems, Northrop Grumman
Jeff Reddish, project manager, NASA Wallops Range Antares Project
Media who wish to participate in the teleconference must contact Gina Anderson at: 202-358-1160 or gina.n.anderson@nasa.gov at least two hours prior to the start of the teleconference for dial-in information.
Questions can be submitted on social media using #AskNASA.
The Wednesday, Feb. 16, Wallops Range forecast predicts 75% favorable weather for the Saturday, Feb. 19, launch window of NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen as it is transported to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA Wallops/Patrick Black
The primary concern for launch at this time is strong southwesterly ground winds.
A strong upper-level shortwave digs out of the Great Lakes region Saturday morning and moves through the northern mid-Atlantic region early Saturday afternoon. This will push a secondary cold front across the Wallops area near the time of T-0 on Feb. 19. Surface winds will increase out of the southwest Saturday morning and there is a chance for a few cumulus clouds to develop to our northwest prior to the launch window.
The Northrop Grumman (NG) CRS-17 cargo resupply mission is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19, at 12:40 p.m. EST. The Cygnus spacecraft will launch aboard the Antares vehicle carrying nearly 8,300 pounds of science, cargo, and technology demonstrations to the International Space Station.
On August 10, 2021, the Northrop Grumman Antares vehicle carrying the Cygnus launched at 6:01 p.m. EDT, carrying science, technology and supplies to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Brian Bonsteel
Antares will lift off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A launch pad.
We’re inviting the public to participate in a virtual #NASASocial event for the Northrop Grumman CRS-17 Cargo Resupply mission. While we cannot invite the public onsite for one of our usual NASA Social events, we are excited to present an opportunity for people of all ages from all around the world to participate in.
We will share videos and information up until the day of launch including:
Science overviews
Live stream of the NG CRS-17 launch
Behind-the-scenes processing of the Cygnus spacecraft
RSVP to the Facebook event for social media updates to stay up to date on mission information, mission highlights, and interaction opportunities.
Don’t have Facebook? You can join our Eventbrite virtual guest program for this mission. NASA’s virtual guest experience also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following a successful launch.
The solar arrays have successfully deployed on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft that is on its way to deliver approximately 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations, cargo, and supplies to the International Space Station after launching at 6:01 EDT Tuesday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia.
File photo of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft approaching the International Space Station, Oct. 5, 2020. Credit: NASA
Coverage of the spacecraft’s approach and arrival to the orbiting laboratory will begin Thursday, Aug. 12, at 4:45 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website
Canadarm2 robotic arm capture scheduled at 6:10 a.m. EDT. NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s installation will begin Thursday, Aug. 12, at 8 a.m. EDT.
This delivery is Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo flight to the space station and will support dozens of new and existing investigations.
Included aboard Cygnus for delivery to the space station are:
From dust to dwelling
Using resources available on the Moon and Mars to build structures and habitats could reduce how much material future explorers need to bring from Earth, significantly reducing launch mass and cost. The Redwire Regolith Print (RRP) study demonstrates 3D printing on the space station using a material simulating regolith, or loose rock and soil, found on the surfaces of planetary bodies such as the Moon. Results could help determine the feasibility of using regolith as the raw material and 3D printing as a technique for on-demand construction of habitats and other structures on future space exploration missions.
Maintaining muscles
As people age and become more sedentary on Earth, they gradually lose muscle mass, a condition called sarcopenia. Identifying drugs to treat this condition is difficult because it develops over decades. Cardinal Muscle tests whether microgravity can be used as a research tool for understanding and preventing sarcopenia. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation in collaboration with the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, seeks to determine whether an engineered tissue platform in microgravity forms the characteristic muscle tubes found in muscle tissue. Such a platform could provide a way to rapidly assess potential drugs prior to clinical trials.
Taking the heat out of space travel
Longer space missions will need to generate more power, producing more heat that must be dissipated. Transitioning from current single-phase heat transfer systems to two-phase thermal management systems reduces size and weight of the system and provides more efficient heat removal. Because greater heat energy is exchanged through vaporization and condensation, a two-phase system can remove more heat for the same amount of weight than current single-phase systems. The Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE) aims to develop a facility for collecting data about two-phase flow and heat transfer in microgravity. Comparisons of data from microgravity and Earth’s gravity are needed to validate numerical simulation tools for designing thermal management systems.
Cooler re-entries
The Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE) demonstrates an affordable thermal protection system (TPS) to protect spacecraft and their contents during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Making these systems efficient remains one of space exploration’s biggest challenges, but the unique environment of atmospheric entry makes it difficult to accurately replicate conditions in ground simulations. TPS designers rely on numerical models that often lack flight validation. This investigation serves as an inexpensive way to compare these models to actual flight data and validate possible designs. Before flying the technology on the space station, researchers conducted a high-altitude balloon test to validate performance of the electronics and communications.
Getting the carbon dioxide out
Four Bed CO2 Scrubber demonstrates a technology to remove carbon dioxide from a spacecraft. Based on the current system and lessons learned from its nearly 20 years of operation, the Four Bed CO2 Scrubber includes mechanical upgrades and an improved, longer-lasting absorbent material that reduces erosion and dust formation. Absorption beds remove water vapor and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, returning water vapor to the cabin and venting carbon dioxide overboard or diverting it to a system that uses it to produce water. This technology could improve the reliability and performance of carbon dioxide removal systems in future spacecraft, helping to maintain the health of crews and ensure mission success. It has potential applications on Earth in closed environments that require carbon dioxide removal to protect workers and equipment.
Mold in microgravity An ESA investigation, Blob, allows students aged 10 to 18 to study a naturally-occurring slime mold, Physarum polycephalum, that is capable of basic forms of learning and adaptation. Although it is just one cell and lacks a brain, Blob can move, feed, organize itself, and even transmit knowledge to other slime molds. Students replicate experiments conducted by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet to see how the Blob’s behavior is affected by microgravity. Using time-lapse video from space, students can compare the speed, shape, and growth of the slime molds in space and on the ground. The French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the French National Center for Scientific Research coordinate Blob.
These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations currently being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
