A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft is heading to the International Space Station (ISS) with over 8,200 pounds of scientific probe kits and cargo after being launched from NASA’s Wallops flight facility in Virginia around 5:32 am this morning. .
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann will use the Canadarm2 space station robot to capture Cygnus when he arrives. Another NASA astronaut, Josh Cassada, monitored telemetry during the arrival and was installed in the Earth-facing Unity module.
Northrop Grumman’s 18th cargo flight to the International Space Station is the seventh, under a Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA.
The Cygnus spacecraft, which Northrop Grumman dubbed “SS Sally Ride” – named after the late American astronaut, physicist and first American woman to fly into space, Sally Ride, was launched aboard the Antares 230+ rocket by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Wallops, Virginia. [em/lt]
