Cygnus heads for the International Space Station

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=7YQSqjSh" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/","20131004212859","https://web.archive.org/","web","https://web-static.archive.org/_static/", "1380922139"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=p7PEIJWi" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web-static.archive.org/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>Cygnus heads for the International Space Station</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"/> <meta name="description" content="Commercial space flight took another step forward today as NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Virginia launched Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft fo..."/> <meta name="keywords" content="NASA,Spacecraft,International Space Station,Orbital Sciences Corporation,Cygnus,Space"/> <meta name="news_keywords" content="NASA, Spacecraft, International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Cygnus"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/"/> <link rel="image_src" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/cygnus-launch.jpg"/> <link rel="alternate" media="handheld" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://m.gizmag.com/article/29038"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859cs_/http://files.gizmag.com/static_styles.min.css?x=1380898816"/> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/web/20131004212859cs_/http://www.gizmag.com/css/dynamic_styles.php?x=1380898816"/> <script src="/web/20131004212859js_/http://www.gizmag.com/inc/css_browser_selector.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/xml/" title="Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/web/20131004212859im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/web/20131004212859im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/apple-touch-icon.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/web/20131004212859im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png"/>   <script type="text/javascript"> var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; (function() { var gads = document.createElement("script"); gads.async = true; gads.type = "text/javascript"; var useSSL = "https:" == document.location.protocol; gads.src = (useSSL ? 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margin-right: 9px;">SPACE</a> </div>  <h1 id="ar_title">Cygnus heads for the International Space Station</h1> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/author/david-szondy/" rel="author">David Szondy</a></p> <p><em>September 18, 2013</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <div class="has_pictures"><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures">21 Pictures</a></div> </div> </div> <div id="article_share_rail"> <div class="as_button"><div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-show-faces="false"></div><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script></div> <div class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="g-plusone" data-size="tall" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/"></div></div> <div class="as_button"><iframe style="overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859if_/http://badge.stumbleupon.com/badge/embed/5/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmag.com%2Fcygnus-launch%2F29038%2F" width="50" height="60" id="iframe-stmblpn-widget-1"></iframe></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="pin-it-button" data-url="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859oe_/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/" data-image="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/cygnus-launch.jpg" data-description="Commercial space flight took another step forward today as NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Virginia launched Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS)."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_rail"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> <div class="as_button" id="email_a_friend_rail"><span class="email_a_friend">Email</span></div> </div> <div id="hero_box" style="width: 530px;"> <a id="hero_link" href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/cygnus-launch.jpg" title="Cygnus lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)" width="530" height="297" alt="Cygnus lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)"/></a> <div class="pic_caption"> <p>Cygnus lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)</p> <a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures" id="gallery_link">Image Gallery</a> (21 images) </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div id="top_unit"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> <p>Commercial space flight took another step forward today as NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Virginia launched Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). The unmanned cargo ship lifted off at 10:58 AM EDT atop an Orbital Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and is intended as a demonstration flight of the Cygnus to show its suitability for delivering supplies to the ISS.</p> <ul id="gallery_images"> <li><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#1" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/cygnus-launch-0.jpg" title="Antares rocket awaiting lift off (Image: NASA)" alt="Antares rocket awaiting lift off (Image: NASA)"/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#2" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/cygnus-launch-1.jpg" title="US flag flying at half mast at Wallops Island in memorial to the recent shooting victims i..." alt="US flag flying at half mast at Wallops Island in memorial to the recent shooting victims i..."/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#3" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/cygnus-launch-2.jpg" title="The Antares rocket being prepared for launch (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)" alt="The Antares rocket being prepared for launch (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)"/></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#4" class="image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/cygnus-launch-3.jpeg" title="The Antares launch is the first from Virginia to the ISS (Image: NASA)" alt="The Antares launch is the first from Virginia to the ISS (Image: NASA)"/></a></li> <li id="view_all"><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures" class="blue">View all<br/></a></li> </ul> <div class="clear_both"></div> <p>About 11 minutes after takeoff, mission control confirmed the separation of the spacecraft from the Antares second stage and the deployment of it solar panels. Now orbiting the Earth at a speed of 17,500 mph (28,100 km/h), this particular Cygnus is named "G. David Low," after a former NASA astronaut who passed away in 2008, and is the first spacecraft launched from Wallops to the ISS.</p> <p>Meanwhile, as the Antares lifted off, the ISS Expedition 37 crew of three, orbiting the Earth 261 miles above the southern Indian Ocean, watched the launch on a laptop computer in the station's Destiny laboratory. Two of the crew spent the day going over Cygnus' cargo manifest, planning how to unload it before reloading the craft with the ISS's rubbish, and then carrying out review training on the Cygnus docking.</p> <div style="width: 530px; height: 349px; " class="article_img"><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#14" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/cygnus-launch-13.jpg" width="530" alt="Artist rendering of Cygnus spacecraft approaching the International Space Station"/></a></div> <p>Over the next four days, Cygnus will fire its engine to match the ISS's trajectory and will also be put through a series of demonstration tests of navigation, abort procedures, and communication systems. The rendezvous with the space station is scheduled for Sunday, September 22, when it will go through a series of maneuvers as it pauses at various distances while the Expedition 37 crew carries out safety checks before allowing the spacecraft to enter the 656-ft (200-m) "keep-out sphere" and come close enough to the station to be captured by the robotic Canadarm and guided to a docking port at 7:25 AM CDT.</p> <p>Once secured, the crew of the ISS will unload 1,300 lb (589 kg) of cargo, consisting of water, office supplies, food, and clothing. Since this is a demonstration flight, the Cygnus is not fully loaded.</p> <p>About 30 days after arrival, Cygnus will leave the ISS. Unlike SpaceX's Dragon, which splashed down in the Pacific, Cygnus is on a one-way mission. After being loaded with station rubbish, it will undock from the ISS and fire its rockets to send it plummeting two days later into the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, where it will burn up somewhere over the South Pacific.</p> <div style="width: 530px; height: 353px; margin-bottom: 1px;" class="article_img"><a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/pictures#21" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/cygnus-launch-22.jpg" width="530" alt="Cygnus separating from the upper stage of Antares (Image: NASA TV)"/></a></div><div class="inline_caption" style="width: 530px; padding: 0;"><p>Cygnus separating from the upper stage of Antares (Image: NASA TV)</p></div><div class="clear_both"></div> <p>Cygnus and Antares are being developed under a US$1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. Other candidate companies, such as SpaceX and the Sierra Nevada Corporation, also developed similar spacecraft and launch systems in hopes of securing the commercial contract to regularly resupply the ISS. This flight marks the 29th and final milestone in Orbital's certification to begin flights to the ISS.</p> <p>"Antares is the largest and most complex rocket Orbital has ever produced," says David W. Thompson, Orbital's President and Chief Executive Officer. "After its flawless inaugural flight in April, we have been actively preparing for this next critical, much-anticipated milestone. Likewise, Cygnus is one of the most sophisticated spacecraft Orbital has developed and built. As an integral part of the Space Station program, it meets NASA's requirements for a human-rated level of safety. Our engineering and operations teams are very excited to be on the threshold of launching and conducting this mission, which they have been working toward for the last five years."</p> <p>Orbital plans to begin regular flights to the station in December as part of its contract to deliver about 20,000 kg (44,000 lb) of cargo over eight missions through 2016.</p> <p>The video below shows the launch of the Antares rocket.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-partner-orbital-sciences-launches-demonstration-mission-to-space-station/" target="_blank">NASA</a></p>  <div class="article_video"><iframe width="530" height="398" src="//web.archive.org/web/20131004212859if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/i9ey1SJxUXk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div>   <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859js_/http://static.fmpub.net/zone/7980"></script> <div id="bottom_unit"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div> </div> <span class="title share_bar">Share</span> <div id="article_share_bar" class="dotsontop share_bar"> <div class="as_button fb_as_button"><div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-show-faces="false"></div><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script></div> <div class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="g-plusone" data-size="tall" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/"></div></div> <div class="as_button"><iframe style="overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859if_/http://badge.stumbleupon.com/badge/embed/5/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmag.com%2Fcygnus-launch%2F29038%2F" width="50" height="60" id="iframe-stmblpn-widget-2"></iframe></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="pin-it-button" data-url="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859oe_/http://www.gizmag.com/cygnus-launch/29038/" data-image="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/cygnus-launch.jpg" data-description="Commercial space flight took another step forward today as NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Virginia launched Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS)."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_bar"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> <div class="as_button" id="email_a_friend_bar"><span class="email_a_friend">Email</span></div> </div>  <span class="title clear_left" id="author_byline_title">About the Author</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="authorcontainer">  <a href="/web/20131004212859/http://www.gizmag.com/author/david-szondy/"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004212859im_/http://images.gizmag.com/author_profiles/153.jpg" alt="David Szondy" id="bio_pic"/> </a>   David Szondy is a freelance writer based in Monroe, Washington. 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Cygnus heads for the International Space Station