A Cygnus cargo ship arrives on the house station with just one working photo voltaic panel
A Cygnus cargo ship arrives on the house station with just one working photo voltaic panel
The personal Cygnus cargo ship arrived on the Worldwide Area Station early Wednesday (November 9) after one in every of its photo voltaic panels did not activate.
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, assisted by NASA crewmate Josh Cassada, captures the drone Cygnus spaceship filled with provides and science experiments with the house station’s robotic arm at 5:20 a.m. EST (1020 GMT), when the 2 ships sailed excessive above the Indian Ocean. Now the robotic arm will transfer the capsule to the Unity module International Space Station (ISS), the place it will likely be deployed to the module’s Earth-facing port later right now.
“A giant congratulations to the NG-18 workforce for his or her tireless efforts to efficiently seize Sally Experience to the ISS right now,” mentioned Mann, who plucked the cargo ship from house with the station’s robotic arm and radioed Mission Management after the profitable seize. It is the spaceship named SS Sally Ride after the astronaut Sally Ride, the primary American girl in house, who died in 2012. Mann quotes Experience’s ideas on the scene after the seize from house. “We actually agree with him, from the start [low Earth orbit]the celebrities do not look larger, however they actually look brighter.”
Associated to: An Antares rocket launches ovarian cells and wild experiments to the ISS
It Northrop Grumman– constructed the Cygnus robotic cargo ship in honor of the well-known NASA astronaut, launched to the ISS on Monday (Nov. 7) from Virginia. Carrying a document 4.1 tons (3.7 metric tons) of science experiments and provides, the spacecraft skilled technical issues shortly after launch.
The truck managed to deploy solely one in every of its two photo voltaic panels after takeoff. Its managers mentioned it might make a protected journey to the ISS, regardless, as mission groups watched for any indicators of bother because it approached the orbiting laboratory.
“Northrop Grumman is working carefully with NASA to observe and consider the spacecraft forward of tomorrow’s scheduled arrival, seize and deployment to the house station,” NASA officers. said in the update (opens in new tab) Tuesday night (November 8). “Mission groups are additionally planning extra inspections of the cargo spacecraft after method and seize.”
Three totally different robotic spacecraft are carrying cargo to the ISS as of late: Cygnus, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, and Russia’s Progress automobile
Cygnus and Progress dissipate in Earth’s environment after finishing their supply mission, however Dragon returns to the ocean for protected disposal and future reuse.
Mike Wall is the writer of “Outside (opens in new tab)(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a e book concerning the seek for extraterrestrial life. Observe him on Twitter @michaeldwall: (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
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