The Cygnus commercial resupply craft is installed
by the Canadarm2 to the Harmony node.
Image Credit: NASA TV
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The Cygnus cargo spacecraft is just a few feet away
from the International Space Station's Canadarm2.
Image Credit: NASA
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Cygnus approaches the International Space
Station.
Image Credit:
NASA
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A week after its original approach date, Orbital Sciences’ commercial cargo
craft Cygnus has arrived at the International Space Station. The Expedition 37
crew captured Cygnus with the Canadarm2 at 7 a.m. EDT Sunday. Cygnus launched
Sept. 18 aboard an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in
Virginia.
Orbital Sciences uploaded a software fix for a navigation data mismatch that
occurred during its approach Sept. 22. NASA managers opted to wait until after
Wednesday’s Soyuz launch and docking to restart capture and berthing
activities.
Cygnus was operating safely behind the space station by about 1,491 miles
while mission managers and ground controllers tested the software patch and
planned Sunday’s second approach attempt. Cygnus began a series of thruster
burns towards the orbital laboratory Thursday night after station managers gave
their final approval.
As Cygnus met its demonstration objectives and moved closer to the space
station, Expedition 37 Flight Engineers Luca Parmitano and Karen Nyberg watched
and worked in tandem with Mission Control. Parmitano was in the cupola at the
Canadarm2 controls monitoring its approach. Nyberg was his back up at the
secondary robotics workstation inside the Destiny laboratory.
When Cygnus met its final demonstration objective of pointing a tracking
laser at a reflector on the Kibo laboratory it moved to its capture point about
10 meters from the station. Cygnus turned off its thrusters, operated in free
drift, and Parmitano maneuvered the Canadarm2 to grapple and capture Cygnus.
Parmitano operated the Canadarm2 to move Cygnus and attached it to the
Harmony node at 8:44 a.m. The hatches to Cygnus will be opened Monday afternoon
after leak checks and power connections.
Orbital Sciences is the second company to send a commercial cargo craft to
the space station. SpaceX was the first company to send its own cargo ship with
two successful commercial resupply missions and two demonstration missions under
its belt.
NASA Hails Success of Commercial Space Program Private
Space Station Resupply Underway, Plans Readied for Astronauts
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Wednesday hailed the success of the
agency’s public-private partnership with American companies to resupply the
International Space Station and announced the next phase of contracting with
U.S. companies to transport astronauts is set to begin next week.
A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the
United States now has two space transportation systems capable of delivering
science experiments and supplies from U.S. soil to the International Space
Station. Under an ambitious plan funded by the Obama Administration, the agency
is seeking to partner with American companies to send NASA astronauts to the
space station as soon as 2017.
Bolden provided remarks at NASA Headquarters in Washington as agency
officials announced the successful conclusion of the Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) program, an initiative that aimed to achieve
safe, reliable and cost-effective commercial transportation to and from the
space station and low-Earth orbit.
The rockets and spacecraft developed by NASA's partners Space Exploration
Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corp. under COTS have
significantly increased NASA's ability to conduct new scientific investigations
aboard the orbiting laboratory. All current and planned U.S. experiments aboard
the station will be facilitated in some way by a SpaceX or Orbital Sciences
resupply mission.
"America’s best days in space exploration are ahead of us thanks to the grit
and determination of those in government, and the private sector, who dare to
dream big dreams and have the skills to turn them into reality," Bolden said.
"We’ve ended the outsourcing of space station resupply work and brought those
jobs back home to America. The commercial space industry will be an engine of
21st century American economic growth and will help us carry out even more
ambitious deep space exploration missions."
SpaceX was selected as a NASA partner in 2006 to develop its Dragon
spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX completed its COTS development with a
demonstration mission to the space station in 2012, restoring an American
capability to deliver and return cargo for the first time since the retirement
of the space shuttle in 2011.
SpaceX has since flown the first two of 12 contracted cargo resupply flights
to the space station through a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)
contract with NASA.
"The COTS program was a great success -- not only for NASA and the commercial
space industry, but also the American taxpayer," said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX
president and COO. "Together, NASA and SpaceX restored cargo transport
capabilities to the United States and also laid the foundation for the future
transport of American astronauts. SpaceX appreciates NASA’s ongoing support and
is honored to partner with them in these efforts."
Orbital Sciences was selected as a NASA partner in 2008 and completed
development of its Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rocket in October with a
successful demonstration mission to the space station. The final review of the
mission by NASA this month marked the beginning of closeout activities for the
COTS program. Orbital Sciences is poised to launch the first of its eight cargo
resupply missions to the space station in December through its $1.9 billion CRS
contract with NASA.
"Orbital’s successful completion of the COTS program, including two launches
of the new Antares rocket and the first mission to the International Space
Station by the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft, was the direct result of the
outstanding collaboration between the NASA and Orbital engineering and program
management teams," said Frank Culbertson, Executive Vice President and General
Manager of Orbital’s Advanced Programs Group. "The unique structure of the COTS
initiative, under which NASA’s technical expertise, experienced human
spaceflight workforce, and well-honed safety operations standards provided the
overall framework, enabled Orbital to bring the energy, innovation and
discipline of the commercial sector to the program, resulting in a reliable and
cost-effective resupply service."
Orbital Sciences and SpaceX offer some similar capabilities to resupply
cargo, ensuring NASA can maintain continuity in delivering critical supplies for
space station crews. Each company also offers unique capabilities of importance
to NASA. Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft can carry a large pressurized
volume of cargo. Cygnus burns up in Earth's atmosphere on reentry, which allows
astronauts to discard items no longer needed aboard the station by loading them
inside the spacecraft before its departure. SpaceX's Dragon is the only
spacecraft in the world capable of returning large amounts of cargo from space,
which includes science experiments conducted aboard the station that can be
delivered to researchers on Earth. Dragon also can carry unpressurized cargo,
destined for the exterior of the space station, underneath the spacecraft.
Throughout the COTS program, NASA's partners achieved a number of important
spaceflight firsts for the U.S. commercial space industry. This included the
first commercial spacecraft to orbit and return to Earth, achieved by SpaceX.
The company also was the first commercial provider to resupply the space
station. Orbital Sciences was the first company to launch to the space station
from Virginia, beginning its mission from the new Mid-Atlantic Regional
Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va.
NASA and its Commercial Crew Program partners also are working to develop the
next generation of U.S. spacecraft and rockets capable of transporting humans to
and from low-Earth orbit from American soil. NASA intends to use new commercial
capabilities to fly U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station
within the next four years. On Nov. 19, the agency will issue a final Request
for Proposals for the new Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCTCap)
contract, designed to ensure commercial companies meet NASA’s safety
requirements for transporting NASA crews to the space station. This procurement
phase is expected to include crewed demonstration missions to the space station
before 2017.
For more information about NASA's commercial space initiatives, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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