Orbital ATK’s Cygnus Successfully Completes Rendezvous and Berthing with International Space Station
April 22 2017 - 9:45AM
Business Wire
S.S. John Glenn Spacecraft Delivers
Approximately 7,600 Pounds of Cargo Including Supplies and
Scientific Experiments
Cygnus Begins Three-Month Stay at the
Orbiting Laboratory
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, today announced that its CygnusTM spacecraft
successfully completed rendezvous and berthing with the
International Space Station earlier today. Known as OA-7, the
mission marks the company’s seventh cargo delivery mission under
NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract. The OA-7
Cygnus spacecraft is named the “S.S. John Glenn” in keeping with
Orbital ATK’s tradition to name its Cygnus spacecraft in honor of
those who made significant contributions to America’s human
spaceflight programs.
Cygnus launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 18. The spacecraft
executed a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit and reach
the space station. Once Cygnus was in close range, crew members
grappled the spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm at 6:05 a.m.
EDT. It was then guided to the Nadir berthing port on the station’s
Unity module. The installation concluded at 8:39 a.m. EDT.
“This is our fourth successful trip to the space station in
little over a year and the third time we will use Cygnus as a
platform for conducting scientific experiments,” said Frank
Culbertson, Orbital ATK Space Systems Group President. “Once again,
we are demonstrating to NASA the proven flexibility and reliability
of the Cygnus spacecraft and the entire Orbital ATK team. It is
truly fitting that a mission designed to provide needed supplies to
astronauts while also promoting space exploration and scientific
research be dedicated in honor of John Glenn, a pioneer of human
spaceflight.”
Cygnus arrived at the station with approximately 7,600 (3,450
kilograms) of cargo, including a NanoRacks cubesat deployer, food,
clothing, crew supplies, spare parts, packaging materials, and
laboratory equipment. The cargo delivery also included four
powered, mid-deck lockers. Resembling freezers, these lockers
received power after they were loaded onto the cargo module. Each
locker carries critical science samples and experiments for the
crew.
The crew is now scheduled to open Cygnus’ hatch and make initial
ingress into the cargo module to begin unloading the pressurized
cargo. The S.S. John Glenn will remain berthed with the orbiting
laboratory for three months before departing with close to 3,300
pounds (1,500 kilograms) of disposable cargo.
After Cygnus departs the space station, the spacecraft will
again be used as a scientific platform, executing a series of
secondary payload missions. Cygnus will carry the Saffire-III
payload experiment to study the behavior of a large scale fire in
microgravity. In addition, a NanoRacks deployer will release four
cubesats used for weather monitoring and global ship tracking. For
the final experiment, Cygnus will use three Reentry Data Collection
Flight Recorders to provide crucial data about the extreme
conditions a spacecraft encounters when reentering the Earth’s
atmosphere. This specific experiment will also test the performance
of different heat shield materials that may be used on future U.S.
space missions. Once these secondary payload missions are complete,
Cygnus will conduct a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s
atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Pending NASA’s specific cargo needs, Orbital ATK is prepared to
launch two additional CRS missions scheduled this year that will
launch aboard the company’s Antares rockets from NASA’s Wallops
Flight Facility in Virginia.
B-roll and animation footage for the OA-7 mission can be found
here: http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/bmc/#. Please note
that media will be prompted to request a PIN for access.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space,
defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both
as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products
include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile
products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons,
armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space
components and services; and advanced aerospace structures.
Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs
approximately 12,500 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in
several international locations. For more information, visit
www.orbitalatk.com.
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Media Contact:Orbital ATKVicki Cox, 410-409-8723Space
Systems Group Public Relationsvicki.cox@orbitalatk.comorInvestor
Contact:Orbital ATKBarron Beneski, 703-406-5528Public and
Investor Relationsbarron.beneski@orbitalatk.com
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