Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares rocket for the
Orb-2 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station is lifted onto
the Transporter/Erector/Launcher (TEL). The stage one core for the next mission,
Orb-3, is on the left. Orbital is scheduled to launch its Cygnus cargo
spacecraft to the space station on July 11 from the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport’s Pad
0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Image Credit: Orbital Sciences
NASA Television will provide live coverage of the upcoming Orbital Sciences Corp.'s mission to resupply the International Space Station.
Orbital's Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch from the
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Launch Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight
Facility in Virginia on Friday, July 11 at 1:40 p.m. EDT.
NASA TV will air a comprehensive video feed of launch preparations and other
footage related to the mission beginning at 12:30 p.m. Launch coverage on NASA
TV will begin at 1 p.m.
On Thursday, July 10, media briefings previewing the mission's science cargo
and a prelaunch status from Wallops will be broadcast on NASA TV at 4 p.m. and 5
p.m., respectively.
The Cygnus will be filled with more than 3,000 pounds of supplies for the
station, including science experiments to expand the research capability of the
Expedition 40 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory, crew provisions,
spare parts and experiment hardware.
Among the research investigations headed to the space station aboard
Orbital-2 are a flock of nanosatellites that are designed to take images of
Earth, developed by Planet Labs of San Francisco; and a satellite-related
investigation called TechEdSat-4 built by NASA's Ames Research Center in
California, which aims to develop technology that will eventually enable small
samples to be returned to Earth from the space station. In addition, a host of
student experiments are being flown in association with the Student Spaceflight
Experiment Program, an initiative of the National Center for Earth and Space
Science Education and NanoRacks.
This and future commercial cargo resupply flights will ensure a robust
national capability to deliver critical science research to orbit, significantly
increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations to the only
laboratory in microgravity.
If Cygnus launches as scheduled, the spacecraft will arrive at the space
station on Tuesday, July 15. Station commander Steven Swanson of NASA and Flight
Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency will be standing by in the
station’s cupola to capture the resupply craft with the station's robotic arm
and install it on the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module.
NASA TV coverage of capture and installation will begin at 6:15 a.m. on July
15. Grapple is scheduled at approximately 7:24 a.m. Coverage of the installation
of Cygnus onto Harmony will begin at 9:30 a.m.
For a full update of media activities and more information on the Orbital-2
mission, visit:
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
For video b-roll and media resources on the International Space Station,
visit:
For more information about International Space Station, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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