US Space Station Delivery On Tap After 8-Month Stoppage

Though several Russian vehicles and one Japanese mission have visited the space station, the failure of three missions previous year (one successful Russian launch saw the cargo ship go spinning off into infinity) has put some pressure on the place: Without new supplies, rationing begins in February and food would run out in March.

The Cygnus will be launching on top of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Astronaut Scott J. Kelly has been on a year long, record-setting mission on the Space Station, and the items sent will help him and other members aboard the space station continue their research- including solving problems that future crews may face as they prepare for a future journey to Mars.

A Friday launch would mark the return to flight for the Cygnus after an Antares rocket carrying another Cygnus to the orbiting outpost exploded just after launch in October 2014, destroying the cargo ship and sidelining these kinds of missions.

The delayed mission will be Orbital ATK’s fourth to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company.

California-based SpaceX has its own deal, worth $1.6 billion, to fly at least 12 uncrewed missions to the space station using its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket.

The U.S. Air Force meteorologist supporting the launch, though, was optimistic.

The Cygnus spacecraft set to launch Thursday is dubbed the S.S. Deke Slayton II, after the original Project Mercury astronaut and pioneer of the first privately funded rocket. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, NASA Wallops, NASA Michoud/Stennis/Langley and on over 40 launches including 8 shuttle launches. Stiffening of the arteries on Earth is linked to aging and physical inactivity.

Part of Cygnus’s cargo will include Kaber, a device that the space station’s Canadian robot Dextre will use to launch small satellites from the space station.

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The International Space Station has been programme is a joint programme of the NASA, Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS, Japenese Space agency JAXA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

“Commercial space is going to happen”, Shireman said.

Russia, which also experienced a failed supply mission last April before getting back on track, will launch another load of cargo in late December.