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A robotic Cygnus spacecraft successfully lifted off from Virginia on Friday night (October 2) carrying nearly 4 tons of equipment, including a new space toilet, to the International Space Station.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket lit up the night sky alongside a nearly full moon at 9:16 p.m. EDT (0116 GMT on October 3) when it launched. the Cygnus NG-14 mission to the space station from the mid-Atlantic regional spaceport in the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
The ship carries 7,624 pounds. (3,458 kilograms) of cargo that includes science equipment, an experimental space bath, food, hardware and other supplies for Expedition 63/64 astronauts who live and work on the space station.
The launch came after a series of weather delays this week and less than 24 hours after a launch abort on Thursday night (October 1) due to a problem with the ground support team.
Related: See amazing launch photos of Antares and Cygnus NG-13!
Launching science into space
Along with the crew’s supplies and hardware, today’s launch sent a host of exciting scientific research and equipment to the space station. One of the most anticipated items on board is a new space toilet, formally known as the Universal Waste Management System. Space station astronauts will test the $ 23 million toilet for future use at the station and for future crews on missions to the moon.
The Cygnus is also conducting other investigations. For example, the radish growing experiment Plant habitat-02 aims to expand our knowledge of growing plants and food in space. With this experiment, the researchers will test how plants grow under different light and soil conditions. This “could help optimize plant growth in space, as well as provide an assessment of their nutrition and flavor.” according to a NASA statement.
Another experiment will help scientists develop safer and more effective cancer treatments. While testing cancer drugs in microgravity could help reveal treatments that “are good candidates for safer, more effective and affordable drugs to treat leukemia and other cancers,” NASA wrote in the same statement.
Another experiment will use a custom 360-degree camera that was released to the station in December 2018 to create an immersive virtual reality experience that will allow people to experience what life is really like inside the space station and even “outside” on spacewalks. Y a different investigation will examine a unique process that could help space station astronauts produce water and energy by converting urea in human urine into ammonia.
Additionally, Estée Lauder will be launching not an experiment, but a skincare serum for the space station. There, the astronauts will photograph the commercial product in the window of the space station’s dome. This effort is part of NASA’s efforts to become more involved in commercial activity in low Earth orbit.
Launch delays and details
Tonight’s launch was previously scheduled for Tuesday night (September 29), but takeoff was delayed “due to poor weather conditions forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.” NASA wrote. A launch attempt on Thursday was aborted two minutes and 40 seconds before takeoff due to the failure of the ground support equipment. Northrop Grumman engineers were able to identify and address the problem in time for tonight’s successful launch.
The Cygnus is built by Virginia-based Northrop Grumman, which, like SpaceX, has a space station resupply contract with NASA. Northrop Grumman named this spacecraft Cygnus SS Kalpana Chawla, paying tribute to the astronaut Kalpana chawla who, along with six other astronauts, died in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Chawla also flew over Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and lead operator of robotic arms. She was the first woman of Indian origin to go into space.
NG-14 is the fourteenth launch of Cygnus and the thirteenth mission of the spacecraft to the space station.
“As the fourteenth flight to the ISS, the Cygnus has been a workhorse for us in bringing cargo to and from the ISS … it has brought in tens and tens of tons of metric tons of cargo. And it is key. [in bringing] much of the research, the crew supplies, the critical spare parts that we need on the ISS to continue operations, “said Dorth.
Docking with the space station
The Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the space station on Sunday (October 4). There, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, the commander of Expedition 63, will hold the spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm. Roscosmos cosmonaut and flight engineer Ivan Vagner will act as backup.
After capturing Cygnus, with the help of mission control in Houston, the station’s robotic arm will rotate and install the craft in the space station’s unit module, where it will remain until mid-December before departing to burn in the earth’s atmosphere.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
