Cygnus Craft Prepares for Friday Launch

Weather conditions remain iffy for the launch of a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

With that decision made, NASA, ULA and Orbital ATK opted to try again 24 hours later with the window opening at 5:33 p.m. EST (22:33 GMT).

Cygnus also will deliver replacement cargo items including a set of Microsoft HoloLens devices for use in NASA’s Sidekick project, a safety jet pack astronauts wear during spacewalks known as SAFER, and high pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks to plug into the station’s air supply network. Spaceflight companies want to prove that they’re reliable enough to run regular missions to the ISS – and, soon, to carry astronauts into space.

The craft will be carrying more than 7,000 pounds of science and research, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware when it arrives at the ISS on Sunday.

Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo ship is making a return-to-flight launch to the International Space Station today, bringing along important Canadian science on the trip.

The International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, which will be used to rendezvous with the Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo ship.

Eight months after Orbital’s explosion, SpaceX, the other company NASA relies on to ferry cargo to the station, also saw its rocket explode. The first launch accident occurred in Virginia in October 2014, the second at Cape Canaveral in June. “They’ve been relatively successful to this point”, Marco Caceres, director of space studies with consulting firm Teal Group, said before the launch. The results could help inform scientists on how to build lighter and more energy efficient life support systems for the space station and future missions into deep space. The partnership is changing the way NASA does business, helping build a strong American commercial space industry and freeing the agency to focus on developing the next-generation rocket and spacecraft that will enable humans to travel farther in space than ever before.

“2015 has been a hard year for ISS”, said said NASA ISS program manager Kirk Shireman at a December 2 briefing here, referring to those two failures as well as the loss of a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft in April.

The Cygnus capsule is named after Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton, a commercial space pioneer.