Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket with Cygnus spacecraft is on schedule for a 5-minute launch window opening May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company’s CRS-9 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch will be from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft aboard, is seen at launch Pad-0A, early Sunday, May 20, 2018, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Antares will launch with the Cygnus spacecraft filled with 7,400 pounds of cargo for the International Space Station (ISS), including science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware. The mission is Orbital ATK’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to ISS for NASA. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Chincoteague Island viewing locations include Chincoteague Downtown Robert Reed Waterfront Park located on Main Street, south Main Street to Curtis Merritt Harbor, and the bike trail near the Museum of Chincoteague Island adjacent to the bridge to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. For more information about viewing locations on Chincoteague please contact the Chamber of Commerce at 757-336-6161.
NOTE: Arbuckle Road and Assateague Island National Seashore/Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge itself are closed to the public for this launch.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission, in collaboration with Wallops, recently published a webpage for visitors seeking to travel to the area for a launch, including additional viewing locations.
Map of locations and times on the U.S. East Coast for viewing the Antares rocket launch. Credit: Orbital ATK
Depending on weather conditions, the launch may be visible throughout the Mid-Atlantic area. NASA Wallops’ Mission Status Center maintains a mobile-friendly interactive map to assist with timing and direction for sky-watchers.
Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket with Cygnus spacecraft is on schedule for a 5-minute launch window opening May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company’s CRS-9 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch will be from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The 6-hour, 15-minute count is scheduled to begin at 10:24 p.m. tonight.
Weather remains at 65-percent favorable for the May 21 launch window. The current forecast for a one-day slip in the launch has 55-percent favorable weather and 75-percent favorable for a two-day slip.
“Weather is going to potentially affect visibility” of the launch in the region, although cloud cover can occasionally enhance views when the rocket illuminates them during flight, said Doug Voss, deputy chief of the Range and Mission Management Office at NASA Wallops, during a press briefing this morning.
Map of locations and times on the U.S. East Coast for viewing the Antares rocket launch. Credit: Orbital ATK
A May 21 launch would have the Cygnus spacecraft scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday morning, May 24.
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft aboard, is seen at launch Pad-0A, Saturday, May 19, 2018, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
The Range Control Center at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore has forecast 65-percent favorable weather for the May 21 launch of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops.
The main weather concerns for Monday’s launch attempt are sky screen (essentially local visibility conditions) and disturbed weather.
A cold front approaches from the northwest for this evening and early Monday morning. The southwesterly surface flow around the area of high pressure to the east will continue to provide a moist airmass over the Wallops region today and tonight.
A cold front will move through the Wallops region tonight, while a weak upper-level disturbance rides along the frontal boundary to provide a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms during the count. The cold front looks to push just south of the Wallops region by the launch window to end thunderstorm chances; however, a rain shower will still be possible in the area during the launch window.
Surface winds will become north to northeast by the launch window due to a weak area of high pressure briefly building into the Wallops region for Monday afternoon.
The Antares rocket, with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The mission is the company’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
With a launch scheduled for no earlier than May 21 from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket will carry the company’s Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus on this CRS-9 mission are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
Some of those scientific experiments and technology demonstrations were highlighted in a May 19 “what’s on board” briefing.
Cold Atom Lab
The new Cold Atom Lab (CAL) facility could help answer some big questions in modern physics. CAL creates a temperature 10 billion times colder than the vacuum of space — down to about a billionth of a degree above absolute zero — then uses lasers and magnetic forces to slow down atoms until they are almost motionless. CAL makes it possible to observe these ultra-cold atoms for much longer in the microgravity environment on the space station than would be possible on the ground. Results of this research could potentially lead to a number of improved technologies, including sensors, quantum computers and atomic clocks used in spacecraft navigation.
Continuous Liquid-Liquid Separation in Microgravity
Demonstration of Zaiput Flow Technologies’ Continuous Liquid-Liquid Separation in Microgravity investigation. Credit: NASA TV
This investigation uses a unique liquid separation system which relies on surface forces to accomplish liquid-liquid extraction. By exploring the microgravity effects on the process, the system is further developed and refined for use in chemical production. Andrea Adamo, founder and CEO for Zaiput Flow Technologies, said the technology has potential applications in pharmaceutical production and chemical synthesis in space.
Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification
This image includes one of the flight assembled Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS) Kits with its contents laid out providing a look at all of the contents and sub-items that make up one MICS Kit. Image courtesy of Leidos MICS Team.
Aleksandra Radlińska, of Penn State, is the principal investigator for Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS).
To assess the feasibility of cement as a process for constructing potential future space habitat structures, the effects of micgrogravity on the process must be understood, Radlińska said. Astronauts aboard the space station would combine pre-packaged bags of cement and water, then halt the chemical process with an alcohol additive. The samples would then be returned to Earth for comparison with equivalent ground-based samples.
Small Satellites
Three CubeSats, a class of small satellites — each about the size of a cereal box — part of the CRS-9 payload were highlighted at the briefing.
CubeRRT
The same interference that causes radio and television static also affects the quality of data that instruments like microwave radiometers collect. As the number of RFI-causing devices increases globally, NASA’s satellite instruments — specifically, microwave radiometers that gather data on soil moisture, meteorology, climate and more — will be more challenged in collecting high-quality data.
The CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology (CubeRRT) validation project will test a new way for NASA’s future radiometer missions to overcome the ever-increasing amount of radio frequency interference that satellites will encounter while collecting data.
TEMPEST-D
Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems – Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) has satellite technology with the potential to measure cloud and precipitation processes on a global basis. These measurements help improve understanding of Earth’s water cycle and weather predictions, particularly conditions inside storms that form precipitation.
The Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems – Demonstration (TEMPEST-D) satellite at Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, CO. Image courtesy of Blue Canyon Technologies.
RainCube
RainCube’s umbrella-like antenna deploys during a ground-based test. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
RainCube (Radar in a CubeSat) Principal Investigator Eva Peral of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, said that radars are traditionally very large and very power-hungry.
A main goal of RainCube is to demonstrate the feasibility of a radar payload on a CubeSat platform. To that end, RainCube’s distinctive antenna looks a little like an umbrella stuffed into a jack-in-the-box; when open, its ribs extend out of a canister and splay out a golden mesh.
As its name suggests, RainCube will use radar to measure rain and snowfall. Climate and weather models depend on measurements from space-borne satellites to complete model validation and improvements. RainCube is a technology demonstration mission enabling precipitation radar technologies on a low-cost, quick-turnaround platform, demonstrating a small radar and ultra-compact deployable antenna and providing a profile of the Earth’s vertically falling precipitation, such as rain and snow. The RainCube mission enables future Earth science missions to improve weather and climate models.
Antares is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch will be from Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft on board, is raised at launch Pad-0A, Friday, May 18, 2018, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
The Range Control Center at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility has forecast 70-percent favorable weather for the May 21 launch of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The main weather concern for Monday’s launch attempt is sky screen (essentially local visibility conditions).
A weak cold front looks to drop into the region late Sunday afternoon, May 20, providing a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms through that evening. Shower chances diminish by early Monday, but a weak upper-level impulse drops over the Eastern Shore during the overnight hours Sunday into Monday, providing increased cloud cover and a slight chance for an isolated shower leading up to the projected launch.
The Antares rocket, with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT on the company’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The mission is the company’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket was raised at the launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore the evening of May 18.
Time-lapse of Antares rocket being raised at launchpad. Watch on YouTube. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Patrick Black
The Antares rocket, with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21 at 4:39 a.m. EDT from Pad 0A of Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops.
The mission, CRS-9, is Orbital ATK’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station for NASA. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
Credit: NASA/Aubrey GemignaniCredit: NASA/Aubrey GemignaniCredit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Patrick Black
May 21 currently shows an 80-percent probability of acceptable weather for launch of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket with Cygnus cargo spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Launch will be no earlier than 4:39 a.m. EDT from Pad 0A of Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops.
The mission, CRS-9, is Orbital ATK’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station for NASA. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
A list of NASA TV coverage follows below (all times EDT). Additionally, Wallops is hosting a Facebook Live broadcast about CubeSats (among the cargo aboard Cygnus) on Saturday, May 19, at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Saturday, May 19
1 p.m. – What’s On Board briefing: Scientists and researchers discuss some of the investigations heading to the station on Cygnus.
Sunday, May 20
11 a.m. – Prelaunch Briefing: Mission managers will provide an overview and status of launch operations.
Monday, May 21
4 a.m. – Live coverage of the launch begins
5:45 a.m. – Deployment of the Cygnus spacecraft’s solar arrays
7 a.m. – Postlaunch news conference
Thursday, May 24
3:45 a.m. – Rendezvous and capture of the Cygnus spacecraft at the International Space Station, scheduled for 5:20 a.m.
7:30 a.m. – Installation of the spacecraft to the space station.
Three NASA astronauts aboard the station will manage the spacecraft’s arrival. Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Scott Tingle will grapple the spacecraft, backed by Ricky Arnold, and Drew Feustel will monitor Cygnus systems during its approach. They will use the space station’s robotic Canadarm2 to grab the spacecraft and ground controllers will command the robotic arm to rotate and install Cygnus onto the station’s Unity module.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until July 15.
Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket was rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The mile-long trip from Wallops’ Horizontal Integration Facility to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport launchpad took place late May 17 into the early morning of May 18.
The Antares rocket, with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft aboard is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 21 at 4:39 a.m. on the company’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The mission is Orbital ATK’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the 7,400 pounds of cargo aboard Cygnus are science experiments, crew supplies and vehicle hardware.
Orbital ATK in conjunction with NASA, has moved the Antares and Cygnus launch to NET Monday, May 21, at 4:39 a.m. EDT to support further pre-launch inspections and more favorable weather conditions. Monday shows an 80-percent probability of acceptable weather for launch.
On May 21, a 5-minute window opens at 4:39 a.m. EDT for the launch of Orbital ATK’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Antares rocket for the seventh time from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific equipment to the space station as part of Orbital ATK’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.
The three-days-out launch range forecast has been issued for Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket with Cygnus cargo spacecraft on the company’s CRS-9 resupply mission to the International Space Station. There is a very slight chance of thick clouds over the region for the launch attempt, scheduled for 5:04 a.m. EDT on May 20 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
The main weather concern for the launch attempt is sky screen. Low-level cloudiness (1,000-foot ceilings) is expected for the launch window on the morning of May 20.
A persistent wet and unsettled weather pattern will remain over the Wallops region through Saturday, providing numerous chances of showers and thunderstorms. A quasi-stationary frontal boundary will move north of the Wallops region Saturday as a warm front, while a final piece of upper level energy will move through the Wallops region Saturday morning and afternoon, with a chance of showers and possibly thunderstorms.
Weak upper level energy will move east of the Wallops Region Saturday night into Sunday morning in combination with a Bermuda high pressure system building into the Wallops region to end precipitation chances. However, there will be a slight chance of a lingering rain shower during the beginning of the count.
