Updated ISS configuration.
OA-9 S.S. J.R. Thompson Cygnus berthing
Orbital ATK's Cygnus Spacecraft Successfully Completes Rendezvous and Berthing with International Space Station
“S.S. J.R. Thompson” Delivers Approximately 7,400 Pounds of Cargo and Scientific Experiments
Cygnus Scheduled For Seven Week Stay at Orbiting Laboratory
Dulles, Virginia 24 May 2018 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that the “S.S. J.R. Thompson” CygnusTM spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and berthing maneuvers with the International Space Station earlier this morning. This marks the company’s ninth successful berthing with the orbiting laboratory.
Cygnus launched into orbit aboard an Orbital ATK Antares™ rocket at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on May 21. The spacecraft then executed a series of thruster burns over the next couple of days 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 5:26 a.m. EDT. Cygnus was then guided to its berthing port on the nadir side of the station’s Unity module and officially installed to the space station at 8:13 a.m. EDT.
“Against the backdrop of a flawless rendezvous and berthing, Cygnus once again demonstrated its ability to perform as a trusted and valued mission partner to NASA and the crew on the International Space Station,” said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group. “Once we finish delivering vital supplies and scientific equipment, our work continues after departure with the deployment of several CubeSats. These secondary missions further highlight the flexibility and versatility of Cygnus beyond cargo delivery and disposal.”
Cygnus arrived at the station with approximately 7,400 pounds (3,350) kilograms) of cargo, supplies and scientific experiments. The crew is now scheduled to open Cygnus’s hatch and make initial ingress into the cargo module to begin unloading the pressurized cargo. Cygnus will remain docked at the station for seven weeks before departing with up to 7,100 pounds (approximately 3,200 kilograms) of disposable cargo.
After departure, a NanoRacks deployer will release six CubeSats. Upon completion of this secondary mission, Cygnus will perform a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Under the CRS-1 contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 66,000 pounds (30,000 kilograms) of cargo to the International Space Station. Beginning in 2019, Orbital ATK will carry out a minimum of six initial cargo missions under NASA’s follow-on CRS-2 contract. This partnership is cultivating a robust American commercial space industry, freeing NASA to focus on developing the next-generation rocket and spacecraft that will enable humans to conduct deep space exploration missions.
In keeping with Orbital ATK’s practice, the OA-9 spacecraft is named in honor of those who made significant contributions to America’s human spaceflight programs. OA-9 is dedicated to J.R. Thompson, a distinguished leader in the aerospace industry. Thompson directed the operations of Orbital ATK’s predecessor company, Orbital Sciences Corporation for nearly 25 years and also served as NASA’s Deputy Administrator in Washington, D.C. from 1989-1991.
Saw pass from Seattle area at roughly 22:30 Pacific time, and Cygnus was clearly visible to naked eye trailing ISS by about 10 degrees (?). Then saw pass at 00:05 and Cygnus could be seen VERY close to ISS at 11 o’clock relative position when looking due north. Separation seemed roughly equal to Mizar double star in Big Dipper, but could not be compared simultaneously due to cloud.
I would like to know what was the separation in km at midnight, as that would allow me to better grasp the physical size of the separation I was seeing. I have seen orbital objects in close formation before (NOSS, ISS & Shuttle) but it was a bit mind-blowing to those with me! They hear about these rendezvous in the news but they had no idea it could actually be seen without a telescope, etc. by the average Joe just by looking up!
Cygnus OA-9 pics have been tweeted by Tingle, Kanai and Flight Director Royce Renfrew, and NASA JSC posted some high-res pics on Flickr.
Note: additional pics were posted by Arnold on Twitter (not attached here)
ARTICLE: Cygnus OA-9E delivers the science, won’t be used as experiment module this flight -
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/05/cygnus-oa-9e-science-wont-experiment-module-flight/
"experiment module extension platform for the ISS"
What does this mean? The article doesn't say. How was it used in that way on OA-8?
In the OA-9 post-launch briefing they talked about either freeing up some space on station or expanding the available rack space by temp stowing/running experiments inside Cygnus while it was berthed. This was first demonstrated on the previous mission with TangoLab-1.
In the same briefing, they also mentioned potentially off loading some for a period of free flying onboard Cygnus, after which it would then reberth with station and the rack be returned to station, if the experiments were especially desirous of a quieter micro-g platform than ISS could normally provide. The Cold Atom Lab that OA-9 brought up to station was given as a potential example of the type of payload that might consider it. One of the Cygnus missions is going to be run as a free flyer for a significant period (I don't recall offhand the exact length, but I think it was at least a year) after it leaves station as a demonstration of the capability.
I ran across this document relating to the cubesat deployments happening after OA-9 leaves the station.
Does anyone know what became of the reboost test?
Does anyone know what became of the reboost test?
According to our NSF "Schedule of ISS flight events (part 2)" thread:
Current schedule of ISS flight events
UTC time is used in table
2018
<snip>
July 12 - ISS orbit's reboost by Cygnus (OA-9) engines
July 15 - Cygnus (OA-9) unberthing (from Unity nadir) and releasing by SSRMS
Late July - Cygnus (OA-9) deorbit and reentered the atmosphere
<snip>
Does anyone know what became of the reboost test?
It's supposed to be towards the end of the Cygnus mission, not too many days before the unberthing. It's a very, very small delta-v being given to station.
Did the ISS re-orient itself to fire the engine? That is, was it fired straight up or along the velocity vector?
