In this Oct. 23, 2016 image, the International Space Station’s Canadarm2
robotic arm captures Orbital ATK's Cygnus
cargo spacecraft on its sixth mission to the station. The company’s seventh
cargo resupply mission is targeted for launch April 18 from NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center.
Credits: NASA
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NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is targeting its
seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for
11:11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 18. Coverage of the launch begins at 10 a.m. on
NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Two prelaunch briefings will air the day prior to launch. At 10:30
a.m., mission managers will provide an overview and status of launch operations
and at 1 p.m., scientists and researchers will discuss some of the
investigations to be delivered to the station.
Dubbed S.S.
John Glenn, the Cygnus spacecraft name is a tribute to the former astronaut
and U.S. Senator from Ohio. It will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V
rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida. Coverage of the spacecraft’s solar array deployment will begin at
12:40 p.m. April 18, and will be followed by a 2 p.m. press conference with
mission managers.
Under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract, Cygnus will
carry more than 7,600 pounds of science research, crew supplies and
hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 50 and 51 crew
members.
The new experiments will include an antibody
investigation that could increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy
drugs for cancer treatment and an advanced
plant habitat for studying plant physiology and growth of fresh food
in space. Another new investigation bound for the U.S. National Laboratory will
look at using magnetized
cells and tools to make it easier to handle cells and cultures, and improve
the reproducibility of experiments. Cygnus also is carrying 38 CubeSats,
including many built by university students from around the world as part of
the QB50 program.
The CubeSats are scheduled to deploy from either the spacecraft or space
station in the coming months.
When it arrives to the space station, Expedition 51 Commander
Peggy Whitson of NASA and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space
Agency) will grapple Cygnus. Whitson will use the space station’s robotic arm,
Canadarm2, to take hold of the spacecraft. After Canadarm2 captures Cygnus,
ground commands will be sent for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on
the bottom of the station’s Unity module.
Cygnus will remain on the station until July, when it will depart
with several tons of trash for a fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Prior
to re-entry, a third experiment will be conducted to study how
fire burns in space.
This is Orbital ATK’s third launch from Cape Canaveral. Missions
from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia are scheduled to resume for the
eighth and subsequent contracted flights.
For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV
coverage, visit:
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
Follow countdown coverage on our launch blog at:
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