ISS Snags Cygnus Supply Ship
Space Station Snags Cygnus Supply Ship, An Orbital ATK Cygnus accumulation aircraft auspiciously rendezvoused with the International Amplitude Base aboriginal this morning (March 26), bringing basic supplies, spacewalk accessory and science abstracts for the aggregation of the orbiting lab. Reported ByAssisted by British astronaut Tim Peake, American astronaut and amplitude base Cmdr. Tim Kopra grappled the ability with the amplitude station's automatic arm at about 6:51 EDT (1051 GMT) this morning, and the aggregation will anon activate the continued action of appointment about 7,500 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of food off of the abreast endemic craft.
The Cygnus aircraft is alleged afterwards NASA astronaut Col. Rick Husband, the administrator of amplitude shuttle Columbia (STS-107), which bankrupt afar on reeentry in 2003. Kopra paid accolade to Husband anon afterwards capturing the craft.
"Houston we'd aswell like to say that we're absolutely accustomed to accompany aboard the SS Rick Husband to the International Amplitude Station," Kopra said. "It recognizes a claimed hero to so abounding of us, and this will be the aboriginal Cygnus honoree who was anon complex with the architecture of this abundant station."
The Cygnus aircraft launched March 22 on an Atlas V rocket congenital by United Barrage Alliance (ULA). It marks the a lot of burden anytime agitated by a Cygnus spacecraft, and is the endure in Orbital ATK's accepted burden accumulation arrangement with NASA in which the aggregation will barrage a Cygnus ability on a rocket congenital by ULA. (Orbital ATK will use its own Antares rocket to complete the actual burden shipments.) [Blastoff! Orbital ATK CRS-6 Mission Launches to Amplitude Base (Video)]
The massive beginning burden includes a camera to investigate meteor showers hitting Earth; a alternation of samples to analysis the microgravity movement of the soil-like admixture accoutrement asteroids, alleged regolith; adhesive Gecko Gripper pads; and a abiding 3D printer for the station.
In addition, one agreement will break on the ability while it's docked to the station, and will alone be activated already it's abounding with debris and appear from the amplitude base in May. That experiment, alleged Saffire-1, will blaze a all-embracing blaze in a appropriate box to admeasurement how blaze grows and spreads in microgravity. On its way out, the aircraft will aswell absolution 5 minisatellites into orbit.
Soon, the station's U.S. Laboratory Module will be searching abundant busier: The accepted aggregation — which includes Kopra and Peake, forth with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka — will see a lot of cartage to the base in the next few weeks. Next week, a Russian Progress accumulation ability will leave the station, NASA admiral said, and a new one is appointed to access on April 2. Later in April, SpaceX is appointed to forward a accumulation aircraft to the station. The ability will be docked accompanying with the Cygnus capsule. SpaceX's accumulation will cover an inflatable abode that will add an beginning added allowance to the station.
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