Cygnus Solar Arrays Deployed; Launch Blog Coverage Concludes

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.

More on NG-16.

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.

Follow along on the International Space Station blog.

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.

Solar Array Deployment Time Now After 8 p.m.

The solar array deployment command now will be given after 8 p.m EDT when the spacecraft is in orbital daylight.

In this black and white infrared image, a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA will deliver nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the International Space Station and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

More launch photos

First-Look Launch Photos

The following NASA photographs show the launch of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket carrying the S.S.Ellison Onizuka Cygnus cargo spacecraft, which lifted off at 6:01 p.m. EDT from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Space Port Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Cygnus is on its way to the International Space Station with about 8,200 pounds of cargo.

The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with Cygnus resupply spacecraft aboard, launches from Pad 0A, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Jamie Adkins)
Photo Credit: (NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Jamie Adkins)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cygnus Separates From Antares Second Stage

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket carrying the S.S. Ellison Onizuka Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off at 6:01 p.m. EDT from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Space Port Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Cygnus is on its way to the International Space Station with about 8,200 pounds of cargo.

Live launch coverage on NASA TV has wrapped. Commands will be given after 8 p.m. EDT to deploy the spacecraft’s solar arrays.

 

Live Launch Commentary Airing Now for Northrop Grumman CRS-16

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting today for the launch of its 16th resupply mission to the International Space Station. The team is now targeting 6:01 p.m. EDT for launch. Live launch commentary has begun on NASA TV.

Watch launch coverage live. 

Loaded with about 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 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

A launch today would mean a scheduled arrival at the space station Thursday, Aug. 12, of the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Ellison Onizuka.

About 60 Minutes Until Launch; Moved to 6:01 p.m

The Antares launch has moved until 6:01 p.m. which enabled teams to resolve a minor ground support issue.

The latest Wallops Range forecast keeps weather at 90% favorable for the 6:01 p.m. EDT launch today of NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman‘s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia. The International Space Station-bound Cygnus is loaded with about 8,200 pounds of cargo.

Live coverage of the launch will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website and the NASA app beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.