Tag: OA-6
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One last task for doomed cargo ship
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The Cygnus spaceship departed the space station June 14. Credit: NASA/Tim Kopra With one last task to carry out, a space station Cygnus cargo ship loaded with trash and no-longer-needed equipment fell back to Earth Wednesday, hitting the discernible atmosphere 60 miles or so above the Pacific Ocean…
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Atlas 5 rocket gains approval to launch again after issue on last flight diagnosed
The Atlas 5 rocket streaks to space on March 22. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now CAPE CANAVERAL — United Launch Alliance has granted “flight clearance” for its workhorse Atlas 5 rocket to resume satellite deployments after linking an errant valve with the fuel usage crunch on its most recent mission and tweaking subsequent vehicles. The next…
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Cygnus leaves space station and conducts NASA fire experiment in microgravity
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bidding farewell to the International Space Station today, the commercial Cygnus cargo ship separated to a safe distance before igniting an intentional fire in microgravity like never before, all in the name of science. The NASA-sponsored Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or SAFFIRE, was conducted to better understand how flames will behave in weightlessness…
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United Launch Alliance narrowing lists of suspects in rocket anomaly
First stage graphic. Credit: NASA TV CAPE CANAVERAL — The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly. That is what United Launch Alliance engineers…
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Atlas 5 forced to improvise during Tuesday’s climb to orbit
Credit: United Launch Alliance CAPE CANAVERAL — The Centaur upper stage launching the Cygnus space freighter Tuesday persevered through a velocity shortfall from the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket, improvising with a longer firing to reach the correct orbit. The 16,500-pound payload was injected into a 147 by 144-statute-mile orbit at 51.6 degrees…
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Preview: Cygnus to take flight Tuesday aboard Atlas 5 rocket
Credit: ULA CAPE CANAVERAL — A hundred days after the last U.S. commercial resupply of the International Space Station by a Cygnus cargo ship launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket, the booster and freighter duo will do it again Tuesday. It was just three months ago when a United Launch Alliance Atlas delivered Orbital ATK’s…
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International Space Station to study meteors hitting atmosphere
Astronaut Ron Garan, Expedition 28 flight engineer, caught this image from the International Space Station in 2011 during Perseid Meteor Shower. Credit: NASA CAPE CANAVERAL — Peering down at the Earth’s atmosphere from a research window aboard the International Space Station, a new science instrument launching Tuesday will compose unprecedented characterizations of the chemical makeup…
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Atlas 5/Cygnus OA-6 launch timeline
Follow the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad with the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply ship for the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT). T+00:01.1: Liftoff The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 vehicle, designated AV-064, will lift off and begin a…
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Scientists to start fire in discarded spacecraft to study flames in weightless
The SAFFIRE mission logo. Credit: NASA CAPE CANAVERAL — Working via remote control this spring, scientists will spark a fire aboard the unmanned Cygnus cargo ship that launches next Tuesday to study how the deliberate flames spread in weightlessness. Aptly named the Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or SAFFIRE, the blaze will be contained within an instrumented…
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket assembled for space station resupply launch
Relive the steps to stack the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility for the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter for the International Space Station. The first stage was erected on Feb. 22, followed by the combined interstage and Centaur upper stage on Feb. 26, then the encapsulated payload on…