Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft is
on its way to the International Space Station with about
7,400 pounds of cargo after launching at 4:01 a.m. EST
Saturday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility
on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
The spacecraft launched on an Antares
230 Rocket from the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad 0A
at Wallops on the company's 10th cargo delivery flight, and is
scheduled to arrive at the orbital laboratory on Monday. Expedition
57 astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA
and Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) will use
the space station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus.
This resupply mission will support
dozens of new and existing investigations as Expeditions 57 and 58
contribute to some 250 science and research studies. Highlights from
the new experiments include a demonstration of 3D printing
and recycling technology and simulating the creation of celestial
bodies from stardust.
The Cygnus spacecraft will remain at
the space station until February before its destructive reentry into
Earth's atmosphere, disposing of several thousand pounds of trash.
This is the seventh flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft, and the
fourth using Northrop Grumman's upgraded Antares 230 launch vehicle
featuring new RD-181 engines that provide increased performance and
flexibility.
The spacecraft for this mission is
named in honor of astronaut John Young. Young was selected for
NASA's second astronaut class and flew during the Gemini, Apollo and
Space Shuttle programs. He walked on the Moon during Apollo 16 in
1972 and commanded the first space shuttle mission in 1981. Young
passed away in January.
