Cygnus Commercial Cargo Departs Space Station for Extended Mission

The Cygnus OA-9 cargo craft slowly departs the space station after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm on July 15, 2018 . Credit: NASA TV/Space UpClose

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   15 July 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The Cygnus commercial cargo craft departed the International Space Station on Sunday morning after being released from the grip of the Canadian-built robotic arm under command of the astronaut crew – after a nearly two month stay and successful delivery of 3.5 tons of science and supplies under contract to NASA.

Expedition 56 Flight Engineers Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA commanded the space station’s 57.7 foot (19 meter) long Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT).

The massive orbiting outpost was soaring 253 miles (400 km) over south east Columbia at the time of the release after the complex has just reentered orbital daylight.

The Cygnus OA-9 cargo craft slowly departs the space station after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm on July 15, 2018 . Credit: NASA TV/Space UpClose

Cameras about the station offered spectacular views as the Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman) Cygnus OA-9 resupply ship slowly drifted away as the most recent SpaceX Dragon was on view and berthed below – all backdropped by gorgeous views of the Erath below.

Soon the pair of rounded Ultraflex solar arrays came into view straddling the cylindrical Cygnus craft.

The Cygnus OA-9 cargo craft slowly departs the space station after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm on July 15, 2018 . Credit: NASA TV/Space UpClose

Live views from NASA TV showed the robotic arm also being maneuvered away by Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor who were working at the robotic work station inside the domed Cupola module

Gerst commanded the opening of the snares on the latching end effector at the terminus of the robotic arm

The Cygnus OA-9 cargo craft slowly departs the space station after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm on July 15, 2018 . Credit: NASA TV/Space UpClose

Earlier in the morning ground controllers in Houston used the robotic arm to unberth Cygnus from the Earth facing nadir port on the Node 3 Unity module nearly at the center of  the station complex.

Cygnus was maneuvered to a hold point and held at a distance of 14.1 meters away from the station’s exterior awaiting Gerst’s command to release the snares.

A departure burn was executed at 8:40 a.m. EDT to gradually accelerate the vehicles departure.

“Everything looking nominal” said the team.

Cygnus will now carry out an extended mission lasting about 2 weeks. It is being maneuvered to a higher altitude and position about 45 km above and behind station.

Plans are for it to deploy 6 CubeSats from a rear mounted CubeSat deployed supplied by NanoRacks Corp.

Cygnus left that station loaded with about 6600 pounds (3,000 kg) of trash for disposal. It was volumetrically filled to capacity said NASA.

After departure command of Cygnus was handed over the Northrop Grumman Mission Control Center in Dulles, VA, former headquarters of Orbital ATK.

Cygnus will be commanded to reenter the atmosphere on July 30 for a fiery destructive deorbit demise harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.  

Earlier last week Cygnus successfully performed the first American reboost of the orbiting outpost since the retirement of NASA’s space shuttles in the maiden demonstration test of the vehicles capabilities this week.

Potentially Cygnus could also be used to deorbit the station in a planned maneuver in the future if that becomes necessary.

The 50 second long firing of Cygnus main engine took place at 4:25 p.m. EDT (2025 GMT) on Tuesday, July 10, and was carried out by ground controllers at what is now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems mission operations center in Dulles, Virginia.

“Cygnus fired its large thruster for 50 seconds on Tuesday,” Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems’ advanced programs division, told Space UpClose in an interview after the maneuver.

“The orbit boosting was very successful. It ran for the full duration planned of 50 seconds.”

Orbital ATK Antares rocket streaks to orbit punching in and out of low, thick cloud layer in the long exposure image of the Cygnus OA-9 cargo freighter launch at 4:44 a.m. May 21, 2018 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia with 3.7 tons of science and hardware bound for the International Space Station (ISS).  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

Following a spectacular predawn launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia shore on Monday, May 21, and a three day orbital chase, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early Thursday morning, May 24, loaded with over 3 tons of critical cargo, cubesats and a host of science experiments including the Cold Atom Laboratory.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Scott Tingle captured the Cygnus cargo spacecraft using the International Space Station’s Canadian-built robotic arm at  5:26 a.m. EDT May 24 as the vehicles soared some 425 km (264 miles) over the southern Indian Ocean.

Orbital ATK Antares rocket blasts off with Cygnus OA-9 spacecraft from Pad 0A, May 21, 2018 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on ninth contracted cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station to  deliver over 7,400 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/SpaceUpClose.com

Robotic ground controllers at Mission Control in Houston at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC)  then took over and completed Cygnus berthing and installation to the orbiting laboratory’s Earth-facing port of the Unity module.

The mission, alternatively named CRS-9 or OA-9, was Orbital ATK’s ninth contracted cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station for NASA. 11 cargo flights are planned altogether under the initial contract with NASA.

On board Cygnus are 7,400 pounds (3,350 kg) of cargo including science experiments, research gear, food, water, spare parts, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to support the Expedition 55 and 56 crews.

Overall Cygnus will deliver about 30,000 kilograms vital equipment, supplies and scientific equipment to the space station as part of Orbital ATK’s Commercial Resupply Services-1 (CRS-1) contract with NASA.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com