SpaceX F9 : Cygnus NG-20 : CCSFS SLC-40 : 30 January 2024 (17:07 UTC)

[ddspaceman]

ISS National Lab
@ISS_CASIS
Expanding its venture into space computing, an updated @hpe Spaceborne Computer-2 will launch on #NG20 aiming to improve research on the @Space_Station, including quicker processing of Earth observations & more efficient monitoring of astronaut health: https://ow.ly/OAKC50QtISC

https://twitter.com/ISS_CASIS/status/1749885356911005998

[ddspaceman]

ISS National Lab
@ISS_CASIS
Approximately 1.5 million people worldwide are affected by #retinitispigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder causing vision loss. Currently there is no cure, but researchers from @lambdavision are again turning to the ISS National Lab for solutions: https://ow.ly/OyIh50QtwHs

https://twitter.com/ISS_CASIS/status/1749795196491976952

[Ken the Bin]

NGA Rocket Launching and Space Debris notices.

241005Z JAN 24
NAVAREA IV 76/24(11,26).
WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
FLORIDA.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING
   291724Z TO 291803Z JAN, ALTERNATE 
   301701Z TO 301740Z, 311639Z TO 311718Z JAN, 
   011613Z TO 011652Z FEB, 021551Z TO 021630Z, 
   031528Z TO 031607Z, 041505Z TO 041544Z FEB 
   IN AREAS BOUND BY:
   A. 28-38.44N 080-37.29W, 28-51.00N 080-17.00W,
      28-44.00N 080-07.00W, 28-38.00N 080-12.00W,
      28-23.00N 080-29.00W, 28-26.45N 080-33.31W.
   B. 30-59.00N 077-46.00W, 31-23.00N 077-32.00W,
      31-28.00N 077-34.00W, 31-36.00N 077-29.00W,
      31-43.00N 077-16.00W, 31-44.00N 077-09.00W,
      31-44.00N 077-01.00W, 31-40.00N 076-46.00W,
      31-33.00N 076-40.00W, 31-25.00N 076-40.00W,
      31-20.00N 076-44.00W, 31-15.00N 076-55.00W,
      31-13.00N 077-04.00W, 30-57.00N 077-41.00W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 041644Z FEB 24.//

241039Z JAN 24
HYDROPAC 282/24(83).
SOUTH PACIFIC.
DNC 06.
1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, SPACE DEBRIS
   1608Z TO 1902Z DAILY 29 JAN THRU 04 FEB
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   29-06.00S 147-57.00W, 27-39.00S 149-23.00W,
   42-51.00S 171-18.00W, 44-17.00S 169-33.00W.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 042002Z FEB 24.//

[GewoonLukas_]

NextSpaceflight (Updated January 24th?)
First Stage B1077-10
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7069

Soo...what will happen with B1072 now?

[zubenelgenubi]

NextSpaceflight (Updated January 24th?)
First Stage B1077-10
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7069

Soo...what will happen with B1072 now?

Assigned to Crew-8?

[ZachS09]

NextSpaceflight (Updated January 24th?)
First Stage B1077-10
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7069

Soo...what will happen with B1072 now?

Assigned to Crew-8?

On Reddit’s SpaceX page, in their Cygnus NG-20 thread, there’s a comment predicting that B1072 may be used for Crew-8.

[OneSpeed]

NGA Rocket Launching and Space Debris notices.

Maps from the NGA notices. Fairing splashdown about 465km downrange.

[ddspaceman]

NASA Space Operations
@NASASpaceOps
.@NASA, @northropgrumman, and @SpaceX are targeting 12:29 p.m. EST on Monday, Jan. 29, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the @Space_Station for the agency and its partners. This launch is the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency.

Live launch coverage will begin at 12:15 p.m. and air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and on the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Friday, Jan. 26.

Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-sets-coverage-for-northrop-grumman-cargo-space-station-mission/

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceOps/status/1750306369578611078

[Targeteer]

JAN 24, 2024

MEDIA ADVISORY M24-017

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft is pictured from the International Space Station as it approaches while orbiting 261 miles above the coast of the Garabogazköl Basin in Turkmenistan.

NASA

NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting 12:29 p.m. EST on Monday, Jan. 29, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station for the agency and its partners. This launch is the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency.

Live launch coverage will begin at 12:15 p.m. and air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and on the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Friday, Jan. 26. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms.

Filled with more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, carried on  the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It will arrive at the space station Wednesday, Jan. 31.

NASA coverage of rendezvous and capture will begin at 2 a.m., followed by installation coverage at 5 a.m. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will capture Cygnus using the station’s robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will act as backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.

Highlights of space station research facilitated by delivery aboard this Cygnus are:

    the first surgical robot on the space station
    an orbit re-entry platform that collects thermal protection systems data
    a 3D cartilage cell culture that maintains healthy cartilage in a lower gravity
    the MSTIC facility, an autonomous semiconductor manufacturing platform
    and a metal 3D printer that will test the capability for printing small metal parts

Media interested in speaking to a subject matter expert about science aboard, should  contact Sandra Jones at [email protected].

The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will harmlessly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. This spacecraft is named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson after the former NASA astronaut.

NASA coverage of the mission is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Friday, Jan. 26:

1 p.m. – The International Space Station National Lab will host a science webinar with the following participants:

    Lisa Carnell, director, NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division
    Meg Everett, deputy scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    Shane Farritor, co-founder and chief scientific officer, Virtual Incision Corporation
    Mark Fernandez, principal investigator of Spaceborne Computer-2, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
    Mary Murphy, director of programs, Nanoracks
    Michael Roberts, chief scientific officer, International Space Station National Lab
    Nicole Wagner, chief executive officer, LambdaVision
    Abba Zubair, medical director, Mayo Clinic

Media must register for the science webinar by 12 p.m., Jan. 26, at:

https://bit.ly/48W97IW

6 p.m. – Prelaunch media teleconference (no earlier than one hour after completion of the Launch Readiness Review) with the following participants:

    Dina Contella, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    Meghan Everett, deputy program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
    William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
    Cyrus Dhalla, vice president and general manager, tactical space systems, Northrop Grumman
    Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron

Media who wish to participate by phone must request dial-in information by 4 p.m. Jan. 26, by emailing Kennedy’s newsroom at [email protected].

Monday, Jan. 29:

    12:15 p.m. – Launch coverage begins
    12:29 p.m. – Launch

Wednesday, Jan. 31:

    2 a.m. – Rendezvous coverage begins
    3:35 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus with the space station’s robotic arm
    5 a.m. – Cygnus installation operations coverage

NASA Television launch coverage
Live coverage of the launch on NASA Television will begin at 12:15 p.m., Jan. 29. For downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit: https://nasa.gov/nasatv.

Audio of the news teleconference and launch coverage will not be carried on the NASA “V” circuits. Launch coverage without NASA TV commentary via a tech feed will not be available for this launch.

NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 12:15 p.m., Monday, Jan. 29, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates.

Attend launch virtually

Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually. Virtual guests will have access to curated resources, schedule changes, and mission-specific information straight to your inbox. Following each activity, virtual guests are sent a mission-specific collectable stamp for their virtual guest passport.

Watch, engage on social media
Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASocial, @Space_Station, @ISS_Research, @ISS_CASIS

Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab

Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: [email protected] o [email protected].

Learn more about the commercial resupply mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-20/.

[Ben E]

Several internet sources (including a direct quote from Doug Hurley) suggest Hilliard-Robertson would have flown to the ISS "in 2002".

But I can't find any reference to a specific mission. All of the 2002-launched ISS increments (Exp 5 and 6) already had prime and backup crews assigned, none of which included Hillard-Robertson and she was not attached to either of the Soyuz taxi flights that year, which both had Russian CDRs, ESA flight engineers and tourist "third-seaters"). Moreover, she was supporting Expedition 2 at the time of her death, which I imagine would have placed her outside the crew-assignment loop until at least their return to Earth in August 2001.

The only thing I can think is that she "may" have been pencilled-in for one of the late 2002 Shuttle flights, with the STS-112, STS-113 and STS-114 crews unannounced until August 2001. But that would have made her an extremely early Group 17 flyer, much earlier than several of her Group 16 colleagues.

Any thoughts?

[zubenelgenubi]

Cross-post:

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv/

Wednesday, Jan. 31

2 a.m. — Coverage of the Rendezvous and Capture of the Northrop Grumman “SS Patricia (Patty) Hilliard Robertson” Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft at the International Space Station (Robotic Arm Capture scheduled at 3:35 p.m. EST)

[ddspaceman]

ISS Research
@ISS_Research
Scientists are discussing research scheduled to launch aboard the NG-20 commercial resupply mission to the space station on Monday, Jan 29!  Join the livestream:
https://issnationallab.org/live-stream/

https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1750947166410146254

[FutureSpaceTourist]

[MattMason]

I think there's a curious space-first here that's not been mentioned.

Cygnus may be the first autonomous orbital spacecraft to fly on four different orbital launch vehicles.

1) Antares 1st-generation (Ended with the ORB-3 launch failure in October 2014)
2) Atlas V (interim launcher while Antares 2nd-generation vehicle was in development)
3) Antares 2nd-generation (Ended with final available booster from Ukraine)
4) Falcon 9, as planned.

Cygnus certainly lives up to be a spacecraft that's "launcher-agnostic."
Am I missing any other spacecraft class with a similar achievement?
I don't think the Apollo Command Module quite counts. While it flew on Saturn V, Saturn I-B, Saturn I (as boilerplate) and Little Joe II, the LJ wasn't an orbital vehicle. And the CSM was built for the Saturns.
If iterations of a vehicle family (such as Falcon 9) shouldn't count, then Cygnus still gets the nod for three vehicles.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/nasakennedy/status/1750986974964392086

We're targeting Jan. 29 at 12:29pm ET for @NorthropGrumman's 20th cargo resupply mission to @Space_Station, this time onboard a @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-40.
 
Tune in for our pre-launch media telecon starting at 6pm ET on nasa.gov/live

[catdlr]

[StraumliBlight]

I think there's a curious space-first here that's not been mentioned.

Cygnus may be the first autonomous orbital spacecraft to fly on four different orbital launch vehicles.

1) Antares 1st-generation (Ended with the ORB-3 launch failure in October 2014)
2) Atlas V (interim launcher while Antares 2nd-generation vehicle was in development)
3) Antares 2nd-generation (Ended with final available booster from Ukraine)
4) Falcon 9, as planned.

Cygnus certainly lives up to be a spacecraft that's "launcher-agnostic."
Am I missing any other spacecraft class with a similar achievement?
I don't think the Apollo Command Module quite counts. While it flew on Saturn V, Saturn I-B, Saturn I (as boilerplate) and Little Joe II, the LJ wasn't an orbital vehicle. And the CSM was built for the Saturns.
If iterations of a vehicle family (such as Falcon 9) shouldn't count, then Cygnus still gets the nod for three vehicles.

Boeing's X-37 has technically "flown" on 4 orbital launch vehicles (Atlas V, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy) if you count White Knight's drop test.

[Martin_G]

https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt.jsp:

SPACE X CYGUS NG-20 (X1989)
CAPE CANAVERAL SFS, FL
PRIMARY:01/29/24   1724Z-1803Z
BACKUP:   01/30/24   1701Z-1740Z
   01/21/24   1639Z-1718Z   
   02/01/24   1613Z-1652Z
   02/02/24   1551Z-1630Z
   02/03/24   1528Z-1607Z
   02/04/24   1505Z-1544Z

[GewoonLukas_]

Now targeting January 30th at 17:07 UTC:

NASA announced the NG-20 launch is now scheduled for Tuesday Jan 30, a one-day slip. Liftoff at 12:07 pm EST.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1751025143424381182?t=WgQBp41rRkNNVZuVqnzEmA&s=19

[gbl]