9.01.2020
NASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman’s February Space Station Launch
Media accreditation is open for the launch from Virginia of Northrop Grumman’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
Northrop Grumman is targeting liftoff of its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft for 5:39 p.m. EST Feb. 9 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island.
To cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops, international media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by Monday, Jan. 13. The application deadline for media who are U.S. citizens is Monday, Feb. 3.
All accreditation requests must be sent to Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.
Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations.
Highlights of space station research facilitated by research aboard this Cygnus mission include:
- The Mobile SpaceLab, a tissue and cell culturing facility that launches and returns on space station resupply spacecraft to offer researchers a quick-turnaround, high-throughput platform that can perform a biology experiment without the need for crew operations for as long as a month.
- Plant Habitat-02, which will cultivate radishes in the Advanced Plant Habitat facility as a model plant that is nutritious and edible. The ability to reliably grow nutritionally-valuable food crops in space which will be critical for NASA’s human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
- The Spacecraft Fire Experiment-IV (Saffire-IV) investigation, which will use the Cygnus resupply vehicle after it leaves the space station to examine the development and growth of a fire in different materials and environmental conditions. Understanding how fires spread in space is vital for developing flame-resistant materials and fire prevention measures.
Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 24.01.2020
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Northrop Grumman names Cygnus for 1st African American astronaut
Northrop Grumman's 13th Cygnus cargo resupply ship, christened the "S.S. Robert H. Lawrence" in honor of the first African American astronaut, is prepared for mating to a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (NG)
The first African American to be selected as an astronaut is being remembered with the naming of a space station cargo capsule set to launch during Black History Month.
The 13th Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft has been christened for Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., who in 1967 was chosen for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. The "S.S. Robert H. Lawrence" is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station atop a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Feb. 9.
"Northrop Grumman is proud to name the NG-13 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.," Northrop Grumman announced on its website on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 20). "Major Lawrence was selected in honor of his prominent place in history as the first African-American astronaut."
An experienced pilot with a doctorate in physical chemistry, Lawrence flew test flights that later helped to inform the landing performance of NASA's space shuttle orbiters. On June 30, 1967, he was chosen as a member of the third group of Air Force aerospace research pilots in preparation for the Manned Orbiting Lab, which was then planned as a crew-tended, reconnaissance platform in Earth orbit.
Six months later, on Dec. 8, 1967, Lawrence, 32, was tragically killed in the crash of an F-104 Starfighter supersonic jet.
Had Lawrence lived, he may have transferred with other MOL candidates to NASA's astronaut corps after the Air Force program was canceled two years later. The move could have led to him being the first African American to fly into space, a distinction that fell to Guion "Guy" Bluford in 1983, launching aboard the eighth flight of the space shuttle.
"Lawrence made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the space program," Northrop Grumman described on its website. "Although his career was cut short, he paved the way for future generations of aerospace pioneers of all races highlighting the need for diversity and inclusion across the industry."
In 1997, Lawrence was honored by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation with the addition of his name to the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In 2018, artist Tavares Strachan and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art strove to raise awareness about Lawrence's life by launching ENOCH, a small sculpture-satellite that featured a gold bust of the late MOL candidate.
Flying the second of at least five missions under Northrop Grumman's Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS) contract with NASA, the S.S. Robert Lawrence will deliver science, supplies and equipment for the space station's Expedition 61 and 62 crews. Among the payloads launching on the NG-13 Cygnus will be a tissue and cell culture facility and the seeds needed to cultivate radishes in the station's Advanced Plant Habitat facility.
The S.S. Robert Lawrence will also support combustion experiments after being unloaded of its cargo and departing the station, prior to its own fiery demise during its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
The christening of the S.S. Robert Lawrence carries forward a custom that began in 2013. "It is the company's tradition to name each Cygnus after an individual who has played a pivotal part in the legacy of human spaceflight," Northrop Grumman explained.
Other astronaut namesakes have been David Low, Gordon Fullerton, Janice Voss, Deke Slayton, Rick Husband, Alan Poindexter, John Glenn, Gene Cernan, John Young and Roger Chaffee. The most recent Cygnus, which launched in November and is scheduled to depart the space station on Jan. 31, was named the S.S. Alan Bean after the Apollo 12 moonwalker and Skylab commander.
Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., seen here at a 1967 press conference for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, was the first African American to be selected as an astronaut. Lawrence died in December 1967 in an F-104 jet crash. (U.S. Air Force)
NASA Highlights Science on Next Northrop Grumman Mission to Space Station
Commander Peggy Whitson is working on the OsteoOmics bone cell study that utilizes the Microgravity Science Glovebox inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory on May 2, 2017.
Credits: NASA
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 29, to discuss science investigations and technology demonstrations launching on Northrop Grumman’s 13th commercial resupply mission for the agency to the International Space Station.
Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live online at:
Northrop Grumman is targeting Sunday, Feb. 9, at 5:39 p.m., for the launch of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist for the International Space Station Program Science Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Liz Warren, senior associate program scientist for the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, will provide an overview of the research and technology aboard the Cygnus spacecraft.
Also participating in the briefing are:
- Caitlin O’Connell, principal investigator, and Devin Ridgley, chief biologist, SCORPIO-V, a division of HNu Photonics, will discuss the Mobile SpaceLab, a tissue and cell culturing facility that can perform a biology experiment without the need for crew operations for as long as a month.
- Bruce Hammer, professor of radiology at the University of Minnesota, and Louis Kidder, a research scientist in bone physiology at the University of Minnesota, will discuss OsteoOmics, which investigates the molecular mechanisms behind bone loss in microgravity.
- Vatsan Raman, principal investigator and assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, and co-investigator Heath Mills, will discuss Phage Evolution, which examines the effects of microgravity and radiation exposure on viruses that target human bacteria without harming human cells or the body’s beneficial bacteria population. The investigation results could ultimately help protect the health of astronauts on future missions.
- David Urban, principal investigator, and Gary Ruff, project manager, will discuss the Spacecraft Fire Experiment-IV (Saffire-IV) investigation, which will examine the development and growth of a fire in different materials and environmental conditions.
To participate in the teleconference, media must contact Gina Anderson at 202-358-1160 or gina.n.anderson@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, for dial-in information.
The Cygnus spacecraft will carry crew supplies, scientific research and hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support the Expedition 61 and 62 crews for the 13th mission under Northrop Grumman’s Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract with NASA.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 2.02.2020
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Northrop Grumman’s 13th Cargo Resupply Mission to Carry Multiple R&D Payloads Sponsored by the ISS National Lab
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), – Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft will be packed with a wide variety of research investigations for its 13th commercial resupply services mission (contracted by NASA) to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch—which is slated for no earlier than Sunday, February 9 at 5:39 p.m. EST from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia—will carry a diverse set of research and technology development projects sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory. This launch represents the first commercial resupply services mission to the ISS in 2020.
Investigations on this mission sponsored by the ISS National Lab include several life sciences payloads, a new commercial hardware facility for researchers, CubeSats (small satellites) to deploy from the space station, and multiple student experiments intended to engage the next generation of scientists and engineers.
HNu Photonics, an engineering company based in Hawaii, has developed the Mobile SpaceLabfacility, which offers investigators a quick-turnaround platform to perform sophisticated microgravity biology experiments. With a successful validation of this facility, the Mobile SpaceLab will provide investigators with another avenue to conduct life sciences and biomedical research onboard the orbiting laboratory.
Multiple life sciences investigations sponsored by the ISS National Lab are part of this mission, including two investigations making a return trip to station. In 2016, a team from the University of Minnesota sent a bone loss experiment to station focused on evaluating magnetic levitation to simulate the microgravity environment and assist in biomedical research to improve the recovery of patients with bone loss conditions back on Earth. Based on initial results from that investigation, the research team is launching a second experiment on this mission to further that research. Additionally, a team from the University of Alaska will send a return investigation to the ISS to examine genetically engineered E. coli bacteria in microgravity to increase the bacteria’s bioproduction rates of isobutene (a key precursor for several industrial products including plastics and rubber).
Several student experiments will launch on this mission in collaboration with Quest for Space, a program in which students design a custom experiment that fits in a miniaturized laboratory to be launched to the space station. Through Quest for Space, student projects can evaluate concepts such as plant health, bacterial growth, radiation effects, and many others.
“The ISS National Lab is excited to build on the tremendous research successes of 2019 with this launch from our partners at Northrop Grumman,” said ISS National Lab Interim Chief Scientist Dr. Michael Roberts. “With this launch, a new year and the next decade of space station research is upon us, and we look forward to communicating the progress of ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations for the benefit of life on Earth.”
To learn about all ISS National Lab investigations flying on Northrop Grumman’s 13th commercial resupply services mission, please visit our Mission Overview.
Quelle: THE ISS NATIONAL LAB
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Update: 5.02.2020
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NASA TV Coverage Set for Cygnus Launch to International Space Station
Northrop Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch at 5:39 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 9. Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 5 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Loaded with approximately 8,000 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Tuesday, Feb. 11 at about 4:30 a.m. NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan will grapple Cygnus and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will be acting as a backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory. The Saffire-IV experiment will be conducted within Cygnus after it departs the station, and prior to deorbit, when it also will dispose of several tons of trash during a fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere May 25.
Media registration for the launch and associated activities is closed. Media can submit questions during the prelaunch news conference and the What’s on Board briefing using #askNASA.
Complete coverage of launch activities is as follows (all time Eastern):
Saturday, Feb. 8:
11 a.m. – Prelaunch News Conference
- Ven Feng, manager, International Space Station Transportation Integration Office, NASA’s International Space Station program
- Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist, International Space Station Program Science Office
- Jeff Reddish, project manager, Wallops Range Antares
- Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, Tactical Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
- Kurt Eberly, Antares vice president, Launch and Missile Defense Systems, Northrop Grumman
3 p.m. – What’s on Board Briefing
- Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Science Office
- Patrick O’Neill, marketing and communications senior manager, International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory
- Caitlin O’Connell, principal investigator, and Devin Ridgely, chief biologist, Mobile Space Lab, Scorpio-V, HNu Photonics
- Bruce Hammer, principal investigator, and Louis Kidder, co-investigator, OsteoOmics, University of Minnesota
- Christopher Own, facility manager and chief executive officer, and Lawrence Own, co-facility manager, Mochii, Voxa
- Gary Ruff, project manager, Saffire-IV, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
Sunday, Feb. 9:
5 p.m. – Launch coverage begins
Tuesday, Feb. 11
3 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus with the space station’s robotic arm
6 a.m. – Cygnus installation operations coverage
Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 8.02.2020
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Antares Rocket Launch Slated for Sunday, Feb. 9 From NASA Wallops
ATLANTIC, Va.- A Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station is planned to launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility late Sunday afternoon.
The Antares rocket is scheduled to launch at 5:39 p.m.
Cygnus will carry approximately 8,000 pounds of crew supplies and hardware to the International Space Station, including science and research in support of dozens of research investigations.
This will be Northrop Grumman’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies and equipment to the space station.
The launch may be visible, weather permitting, to residents throughout the mid-Atlantic region and possibly the East Coast of the United States.
If the Accomack County launch does not go as planned, it will be Monday at 5 p.m.
Launch updates will be available via the Wallops Facebook and Twitter sites:
Launch coverage on NASA TV will begin at 5 p.m. EST. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Quelle: WBOC
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Update: 10.02.2020
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Cygnus launch to ISS scrubbed as NASA considers schedule changes for future cargo missions
Updated 8:35 p.m. Eastern with new launch date.
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — A technical issue scrubbed a scheduled Feb. 9 launch a Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station as NASA is considering changes to the schedule of future cargo missions and science activities on the station given uncertainties about the size of the station’s crew.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket was scheduled to lift off from Pad 0-A the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at 5:39 p.m. Eastern Feb. 9, carrying a Cygnus spacecraft on a mission designated NG-13. However, the launch was first pushed to the end of its five-minute window, and then scrubbed a few minutes before the revised launch time.
NASA and Northrop Grumman said about three hours after the scrub that the launch was postponed because of “off-nominal readings from a ground support sensor.” The launch has been rescheduled for Feb. 13 at 4:06 p.m. Eastern because of both time to correct the issue and poor weather in the forecast.
The Cygnus is carrying 3,633 kilograms of cargo, including about 1,600 kilograms of vehicle hardware and nearly 1,000 kilograms of science payloads. Crew supplies and other equipment constitute the rest of the cargo on the spacecraft.
As NASA reschedules this cargo mission, the agency may be shifting future missions around as well to reflect the status of the station’s crew. By April, the station will have only a three-person crew, including a single NASA astronaut, Chris Cassidy, for potentially several months. Uncertainty about when commercial crew vehicles will fly, and the duration of their missions, has created challenges for planning the resources needed for the station and the science that can be performed there.
“We are discussing the best cadence on which to launch the cargo missions, and one factor is when we’ll have crewmembers on board,” said Ven Feng, manager of NASA’s ISS Transportation Integration Office. The schedule of commercial crew vehicles as well as plans to complete science investigations on the station are key factors in that planning.
“We’re trying to position ourselves to have the most flexibility possible to get the most and highest quality science done as we hope to see our commercial crew vehicle arrive some time this year,” he said.
Feng said that Northrop has done a “tremendous” job demonstrating its ability to fly earlier than planned for the NG-13 mission. “We may pull on that again in the near future,” he said. Northrop officials at Wallops said the next Cygnus mission, NG-14, is tentatively scheduled for October but could be moved up to August.
SpaceX’s next cargo Dragon mission, CRS-20, is scheduled for launch March 2, and will be the last of that version of the spacecraft. The company will start using a version of its Crew Dragon spacecraft for future cargo missions under its new Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with the CRS-21 mission no earlier than August.
The reduced crew size will also affect science on the station. A Nov. 14 report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General concluded that with only one NASA astronaut on board, the amount of science done on the station would drop from an average of about 35 hours a week to just 5.5 hours.
“We’re taking that into account,” said Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist for the ISS program at NASA. “We’re talking with our researchers, we’re talking with the different funding sponsors, and making sure that everybody understands the situation.”
Parris said that some experiments on the station don’t require crew time. “Those are certainly helpful in a time like this when we’re not going to have a lot of crew time available,” she said. There’s also “reserve science” that astronauts can do when they’re able to free up time in their schedules.
“We’re doing everything that we can to keep doing as much science as possible during this deficit in crew time,” she said.
Quelle: SN
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Update: 13.02.2020
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Cargo Craft Named After 1st Black Astronaut Slated to Head to Station
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen horizontal on Pad-0A for the final cargo load, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 13th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-13 Cygnus spacecraft is named after the first African American astronaut, Major Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., and is scheduled to launch at 3:43 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 14.
Quelle. NASA
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NASA TV Coverage Set for Feb. 14 Cygnus Launch to Space Station
Northrop Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch at 3:43 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 14. Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 3:15 p.m., on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
On Feb. 9, Northrop Grumman scrubbed its Antares launch after off-nominal readings from a ground support sensor. The Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft remain healthy.
Loaded with approximately 7,500 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Sunday, Feb. 16 at about 5:11 a.m. NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan will grapple Cygnus and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will be acting as a backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 2:30 a.m., and installation coverage will begin at 6 a.m.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory. The Saffire-IV experiment will be conducted within Cygnus after it departs the station prior to deorbit. During its deorbit, it also will dispose of several tons of trash during a fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere May 25.
Media registration for the launch and associated activities is closed. The prelaunch news conference and What’s on Board briefing took place on Feb 8 and can be viewed online:
- Northrop Grumman's CRS-13 Mission: Prelaunch News Conference
- Northrop Grumman's CRS-13 Mission: What's on Board
Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 15.02.2020
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Start-LIVE-Frams: Antares mit Cygnus NG-13 ISS-Mission
Quelle: NASA