{"id":15977,"date":"2015-10-25T21:14:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-25T13:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/bags-are-packed-inside-cygnus-commercial-cargo-freighter\/"},"modified":"2015-10-25T21:14:58","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T13:14:58","slug":"bags-are-packed-inside-cygnus-commercial-cargo-freighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/bags-are-packed-inside-cygnus-commercial-cargo-freighter\/","title":{"rendered":"Bags are packed inside Cygnus commercial cargo freighter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Technicians
Technicians load cargo inside the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized supply section in this photo taken Oct. 20. Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first installment of supplies and provisions tagged for launch on Orbital ATK\u2019s next commercial supply run to the International Space Station, the company\u2019s first since a catastrophic launch failure last year, has been loaded into the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized cargo section.<\/p>\n

Technicians will install more cargo next month before sealing the Cygnus spaceship\u2019s hatch for launch. When the automated cargo capsule blasts off Dec. 3, it will haul up approximately 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms) to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

The flight is Orbital ATK\u2019s fourth commercial resupply mission to the complex, out of 10 cargo launches currently on contract with NASA.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized cargo module and service module are mated in this photo from Oct. 22. Credit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ground crews connected the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized cargo module, made in Italy by Thales Alenia Space, with the ship\u2019s propulsion and power segment inside Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 22. The next step calls for the spacecraft to be transferred to a nearby fueling facility to receive propellant for in-space maneuvers and a final load of time-sensitive supplies.<\/p>\n

Then the spacecraft will be enclosed within the nose cone of its Atlas 5 rocket in mid-November, followed by its shipment to Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 41 launch pad for lifting atop the launcher.<\/p>\n

NASA contracted with SpaceX and Orbital ATK for resupply services to the space station in 2008. The next Cygnus flight, dubbed OA-4, is Orbital ATK\u2019s first mission since the company\u2019s third cargo flight crashed shortly after liftoff in October 2014.<\/p>\n

\"Engineers
Engineers rotate the Cygnus cargo module in preparation for its attachment to the service module, seen at the bottom of this image from Oct. 21. Credit: NASA\/Dmitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is also the first commercial cargo flight to the station from U.S. soil since a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated minutes after launch in June, grounding that firm\u2019s launch manifest.<\/p>\n

Orbital ATK purchased two Atlas 5 rocket launches from United Launch Alliance to keep the Cygnus missions flying while outfitting its Antares booster with new engines.<\/p>\n

The OA-4 mission will mark the first time the Cygnus spacecraft will fly with new circular solar arrays and an enlarged cargo module to accommodate extra supplies.<\/p>\n

More photos of the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s processing are posted below.<\/p>\n

\"Technicians
Technicians add cargo containers to the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized module in this Oct. 20 image. Credit: NASA\/Dmitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s service module is removed from its shipping container in this Oct. 15 image after its arrival at the Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Space Station Processing Facility from Orbital ATK\u2019s factory in Dulles, Virginia. Credit: NASA\/Jim Grossmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Jim Grossmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The Cygnus cargo module is hoisted atop the service module inside KSC\u2019s Space Station Processing Facility on Oct. 22. Credit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Credit:
Credit: NASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technicians load cargo inside the Cygnus spacecraft\u2019s pressurized supply section in this photo taken Oct. 20. Credit: NASA\/Dimitri Gerondidakis The first installment of supplies and provisions tagged for launch on Orbital ATK\u2019s next commercial supply run to the International Space Station, the company\u2019s first since a catastrophic launch failure last year, has been loaded into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3800,639,717,1602,3801,2899,3921],"class_list":["post-15977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-av-061","tag-cygnus","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss-cargo","tag-oa-4","tag-orbital-atk","tag-space-station-processing-facility"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}