Shipment in months takes off for space station

The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft, named in honor of the late Mercury astronaut and commercial spaceflight pioneer, lifted off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) on Sunday (Dec. 6).

“NASA is delighted at the continued progress made possible by our investment in commercial space”, said NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. “All these missions are critical to our journey to Mars – a journey we have already begun”. Instead of boosting Cygnus straight to the International Space Station, the Atlas V will use its flexibility to deliver the spacecraft into an orbit where it can loiter in space for several weeks before rendezvousing with the space station on December 19th.

Orbital ATK will try again on Sunday at 4.44 p.m. (local time) with a 30-minute launch window. Additionally, there will be “experiments that will study the behavior of gases and liquids, clarify the thermo-physical properties of molten steel, and evaluate flame-resistant textiles”.

Under the CRS contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 62,000 pounds (28,000 kilograms) of cargo to the ISS over 10 missions through 2018.

In addition, this flight marked the 25th successful flight of the Orbital ATK retro motors on the Atlas V, eight of which provided thrust for separation of the spent first stage.

Orbital ATK’s OA-4 Cygnus mission patch. 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. After the loss of the Orb-3 Deke Slayton in 2014, the space station program suffered two more supply craft losses, leaving the orbiting laboratory running low on basic needs. Instead of focusing on catching up, NASA will be able to send up more new experiments and components for the crew. It will be the first NanoRacks microsatellite deployed from the space station and the first propulsion-capable satellite deployed from the NanoRacks-MicroSat-Deployer known as Kaber. Next stop: “@Space_Station”, Orbital ATK tweeted. High wind on Saturday forced a third delay for the first US shipment of space station supplies since spring.

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“It is our future”, Shireman stressed at a news conference last week.

The two US launch accidents, plus a failed Russian cargo run in April, have left the station’s storage bins a bit empty. “Scott Kelly of NASA will support Lindgren in a backup position”, announced NASA in an updated release on Sunday night. Cygnus will then spend a little over 4 weeks attached to the Earth-facing port on station’s Unity Module until it’s loaded with about 3,000 lbs of waste and detached for a fiery end in Earth’s atmosphere.

Tightly choreographed maneuvers over the 60-hour trek will guide the vessel to meet the International Space Station in close proximity early Wednesday. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000.

The additional capacity is coming at a time when it is most needed.