A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket propelled a Cygnus cargo ship into orbit on Saturday after a perfect launch from the east coast of Virginia, carrying more than 8,000 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station.
The two RD-181 engines of the first Russian-made rocket launched at 12:36 pm, accelerated to maximum thrust and pushed the booster into the sky from platform 0A to the Regional Space Port of the United States. ‘Middle Atlantic (MARS) on NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia flight. installation.
As it climbed directly into the orbit plane of the space station, the Antares 230+ rocket took off in a southeasterly trajectory to begin the company’s 15th space station payload run.
NASA Television
The ascent out of the low atmosphere passed smoothly and after two minutes of 45 seconds of firing the second stage of solid rocket rocket, the cargo ship Cygnus was released to fly alone, of course to put- get up to date with the station early Monday.
Along with research materials, spare parts and other equipment, the spacecraft will also bring fresh food to the station’s crew members.
“Some of the things we’ll be sending include perishable items like parmesan and cheddar cheese, apples and tomatoes, nuts and dried meats, and even some sweets,” said David Brady, a scientist on the space station’s associated program. .
Also on board: smoked maple salmon “for those crew members who love fish.”
“We like to make them happy because it helps them be more productive and allows us to do more science,” Brady quipped.
The main goal of the Cygnus mission is to provide scientific equipment and supplies for ongoing research using the microgravity environment aboard the space station.
One experiment will use small worms to learn more about how astronauts’ muscles lose strength in the absence of gravity, while another explores better ways to make retinal implants that can help people with degenerative vision disorders maintain or improve. the view.
Advanced equipment capable of processing and compressing data more quickly will be tested and equipment will be installed to upgrade the station’s urine recycling system. Also on board: new radiation detectors that will be used in future missions to the Moon and beyond.
Soichi Noguchi / NASA
“ISS research is in full bloom right now,” said program scientist Heidi Parris. “There are hundreds of different experiments happening simultaneously on the International Space Station and it is launching the work of some of the brightest scientific minds in the world.”
The research, he said, “tries to improve our daily life on Earth and also continue to expand our capabilities for future space exploration.”
If all goes well, the Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the station early Monday. Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and crewmate Mike Hopkins will capture the cargo ship with the lab’s robotic arm. Then, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will take command by remote control to lure the ship to berth.
“This vehicle carries more than 8,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station,” said Joel Montalbano, the station’s program manager in Houston. “We’ve been talking to the crew on board (i) eagerly awaiting the arrival of Cygnus and we look forward to opening the hatch and getting in and continuing the science and research program we’ve scheduled.”
Northrop Grumman christens his Cygnus cargo ships with the names of notable men and women who played key roles in the American space program. For Saturday’s flight, the spacecraft was named in honor of Katherine Johnson, a late mathematician whose role played the early years of the space program in the movie “Hidden Figures.”
“Our tradition is to name each Cygnus after a person who has played a key role in the flight of human space,” said Frank DeMauro, vice president and CEO of Northrop Grumman. “Ms. Johnson was selected for her handwritten calculations that helped launch the first Americans into space, as well as for her successes in breaking glass ceiling after glass ceiling as a black woman.
“She’s an inspiration to so many people, especially women of color, and she’s shown time and time again that racial barriers and glass ceilings are breakable and shouldn’t have been there.”