The Antares rocket launched an uncrewed Cygnus cargo ship at 4:44 a.m. EDT (0844 GMT) from Pad-0A of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here, and successfully reached orbit 9 minutes later. The Cygnus, also built by Orbital ATK, is expected to arrive at the space station on Thursday (May 24).
"In fond memory of [the Cygnus spacecraft's namesake, aerospace executive] Mr. J.R. Thompson, we wish Cygnus a a smooth trip on the rest of their journey to the International Space Station," a spokesperson from Mission Control said after annoucing that the spacecraft had reached orbit.
Orbital ATK's Antares rocket successfully launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station in the early morning May 21, 2018, from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Credit: NASA TVBecause of its predawn timing, Monday's launch was expected to be visible to potentially millions of spectators along the U.S. East Coast. More than 2,000 people were expected at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center alone, NASA officials said. And one of those spectators was NASA's new adminsitrator, Jim Bridenstine, who attended the launch in person, according to NASA.
Orbital ATK's Cygnus is packed with 7,385 lbs. (3,350 kilograms) of experiments, clothing, food and other supplies for the six Expedition 55 crewmembers currently living aboard the International Space Station.
Orbital ATK's Antares spacecraft passed through a layer of clouds before lighting up the sky over NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia while launching the Cygnus spacecraft toward the International Space Station May 21, 2018.
Credit: NASA TVThat gear includes the Cold Atom Laboratory, an experiment built by scientists to create the coldest spot in the universe using lasers, as well as a closed-loop plant growth experiment, a sextant for navigation studies, and a series of cubesats that will be deployed in orbit from both the station and the Cygnus itself once it departs the orbiting laboratory.
"What's also important is it will bring home almost 3 tons of cargo back from the space station," Kirk Shireman, NASA's space station program manager, told reporters Sunday (May 20).
The Cygnus spacecraft is a disposable vehicle designed to intentionally burn up in Earth's atmosphere at the end of its mission. Before leaving the space station, it will be filled with tons of trash and other unneeded items for disposal, according to its mission profile. Orbital ATK named this Cygnus the S.S. J.R. Thompson in honor of J.R. Thompson, a former NASA director and Orbital ATK executive who died last November.
First shots of this morning's #OA9 #Antares launch from @NASA_Wallops! pic.twitter.com/TdojyZPGtW
— Orbital ATK (@OrbitalATK) May 21, 2018
Monday's launch marked the ninth cargo delivery mission for NASA by the Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital ATK under a $2.9 billion contract for 11 such missions in all. It was the seventh Orbital ATK cargo mission to use the company's Orbital ATK's Antares rocket. The other two missions launched on Atlas V rockets built by the United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Orbital ATK is one of two companies currently ferrying cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other is SpaceX, which is expected to fly 20 delivery flights for NASA as part of a contract valued at just over $3 billion. SpaceX has flown 14 of those missions so far using its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft.
NASA has also picked Orbital ATK, SpaceX and another company —Sierra Nevada Corp. — for a new round of cargo delivery contracts under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 program. Sierra Nevada will use its uncrewed Dream Chaser space planes and Atlas V rockets to make its deliveries.
Visit Space.com Thursday for complete docking coverage of the Cygnus OA-9 mission.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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