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<\/p>\nAfter 110 days at the International Space Station, the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) NG-11 Cygnus resupply vehicle has departed the orbital outpost. <\/p>\n
But in a significant change from previous missions, Cygnus will not perform a destructive re-entry within the next few weeks, instead remaining on orbit until the end of the year to test new systems aboard the craft that will aid NGIS in their ability to offer Cygnus as a free-flying science platform for ISS, non-Space Station, and future NASA needs.<\/p>\n
A prolonged mission for NG-11 Cygnus:<\/b><\/p>\n
After departing the International Space Station, the NG-11 Cygnus will \u2013 as is customary \u2013 deploy a series of Cubesats from both a forward hatch-mounted deployer and its standard CubeSat deployer mounted on its service module on the rear of the craft.<\/p>\n
Speaking directly to NASASpaceflight, Frank DeMauro, Vice President and General Manager of Space Systems Division at Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, said \u201cWe have seven CubeSats total. Four are going to be from the Slingshot system that mounts on the hatch part of Cygnus, and then three will get launched from the NanoRacks CubeSat deployer which is mounted on the outside of the service module.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after these releases, the NG-11 Cygnus will enter new territory.<\/p>\n
Instead of changing its orbit to maneuver for a destructive deorbit and reentry over the South Pacific, Cygnus will instead begin a multi-month orbital test campaign to validate several new systems that will greatly aid its ability to serve as a free-flying science platform going forward. <\/p>\n
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CubeSat deployer and its location on the outside of the Cygnus craft. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)<\/p>\n
These new systems include the first flight of a Control Moment Gyro (CMG) on Cygnus that will enable the craft to maintain its attitude instead of using propellant-driven thrusters.<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle models (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of this experiment \u2013 and I do want to stress that this is an experiment \u2013 is to demonstrate our ability to fly Cygnus with a Control Moment Gyroscope, demonstrate that our avionics and software works well with the CMG, and so we\u2019ll spend a couple of weeks actually doing that particular check out,\u201d related Mr. DeMauro.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team has got some specific tests they\u2019ll be doing for maneuverability and checking the interfaces between all the avionics. We\u2019ll be looking at the fuel usage with and without the CMG because without the Control Moment Gyroscope, as with all of our missions before, we just use fuel for maneuverability. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd now with a CMG we\u2019ll use that for pointing the spacecraft and just use fuel for trimming the orbit,\u201d said Mr. DeMauro. <\/p>\n This test will be carried out as part of the NG-11 Cygnus\u2019 extended stay on orbit, something else NGIS is keen to demonstrate with the craft.<\/p>\n \u201cWe plan to fly around for about six months,\u201d noted Mr. DeMauro, to show Cygnus\u2019 capability of staying on orbit to serve as a free-flying scientific research platform and\/or testbed for government and commercial entities.\u201d<\/p>\n And that all leads to a big end-goal for NG-11 \u2013 showing that two Cygnus spacecraft can be operated in orbit at the same time.<\/p>\n To do this, NG-11 will remain in orbit through the end of the year so that its flight can overlap with the NG-12 mission of the next Cygnus this fall.<\/p>\nSee Also<\/h4>\n
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