{"id":39105,"date":"2016-03-22T19:40:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T11:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/oa-6-cygnus-launched-to-the-iss-via-atlas-v\/"},"modified":"2016-03-22T19:40:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T11:40:01","slug":"oa-6-cygnus-launched-to-the-iss-via-atlas-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/oa-6-cygnus-launched-to-the-iss-via-atlas-v\/","title":{"rendered":"OA-6 Cygnus launched to the ISS via Atlas V"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning its sixth flight Tuesday night, Orbital ATK\u2019s Cygnus spacecraft lifted off atop an Atlas rocket to begin a two-month mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the OA-6 mission from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral was on schedule at 23:05:51 local time (03:05 UTC on Wednesday), with berthing expected on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\nCygnus OA-6:<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s launch was Cygnus\u2019 second flight atop United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rocket \u2013 standing in for Orbital ATK\u2019s own Antares while Orbital modify the latter\u2019s first stage.<\/p>\n

Antares is expected to return to flight \u2013 sporting new RD-181 engines in place of the AJ-26 used previously \u2013 in late June with the next Cygnus mission, its first flight since a launch failure in October 2014.<\/p>\n

\"2015-08-07-122716\"Cygnus\u2019 ability to launch on either Antares or Atlas was listed as a strength when NASA reviewed submissions for its Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract, under which Orbital was awarded at least six additional launches in January.<\/p>\n

These may be performed using either rocket. SpaceX was also awarded at least six missions for the Dragon spacecraft, as was Sierra Nevada Corporation for its Dream Chaser vehicle which is expected to fly in 2019.<\/p>\n

Orbital developed the Cygnus spacecraft under NASA\u2019s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, having been awarded a contract for a demonstration mission in February 2008.<\/p>\n

\"Z3\"COTS contracts had originally been awarded to SpaceX \u2013 resulting in development of the Dragon \u2013 and Rocketplane Kistler (RPK), however Orbital were brought in after RPK failed to achieve contract milestones with its K-1 rocket. Later that year a series of operational missions were awarded to Orbital.<\/p>\n

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Cygnus began its demonstration mission in September 2013, remaining berthed at the ISS until late October. Following this operational missions were launched successfully in January and July 2014, however the third operational launch in October 2014 ended in failure after a turbopump exploded in one of the first stage engines of its Antares rocket.<\/p>\n

With Antares grounded, Orbital purchased a launch from United Launch Alliance, with an option for a second. The first of these was performed successfully in December, with Tuesday\u2019s launch engaging the option in that contract.<\/p>\n

\"ScreenLike December\u2019s launch, Tuesday\u2019s OA-6 mission involves the enhanced version of the Cygnus spacecraft, with an enlarged pressurised cargo module and redesigned fuel tanks and solar arrays. Launching atop the Atlas, instead of the smaller and less powerful Antares, also allows the spacecraft to carry a greater mass of cargo.<\/p>\n

OA-6 is carrying 3,395 kilograms (7,485 lb) of cargo to the station; including 777 kg (1,713 lb) of scientific hardware, 1,139 kg (2,511 lb) of provisions for the crew, 1,108 kg (2,443 lb) of station hardware, 98 kilograms (216 lb) of computer equipment and 157 kg (346 lb) of hardware for EVAs. Packaging accounts for the remaining 116 kg (256 lb) of the payload.<\/p>\n

Experiments being carried to the space station aboard Cygnus include Meteor, a high-resolution imaging payload intended to capture video and still images of meteors as they enter the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, to allow better study of their properties and composition.<\/p>\n

\"2016-03-22-132438\"Strata-1 is a materials science payload aimed at studying how asteroid regolith \u2013 or loose surface material \u2013 behaves in microgravity.<\/p>\n

The research will benefit future missions aimed at landing on asteroids and small planetary satellites such as Phobos.<\/p>\n

The Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) is a 3D printer which will be used to construct tools and equipment in orbit by building them in layers.<\/p>\n

Cygnus is also carrying \u201cGecko Gripper\u201d adhesive devices to be tested aboard the station for mounting small items to the walls of the outpost.<\/p>\n

\"2015-06-27-234305\"Following its departure from the space station, a group of CubeSats will be deployed from a Nanoracks dispenser mounted externally to the vehicle.<\/p>\n

These include the twenty-strong Flock-2d contingent of Planet Labs\u2019 large constellation of Earth imaging satellites and further spacecraft of Spire\u2019s Lemur-2 constellation. Lemur-2, whose first four satellites were launched atop a PSLV last September, carry imaging payloads and AIS receivers to relay tracking information from ships at sea.<\/p>\n

Once the CubeSats have separated, Cygnus will host the first of three Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project, or Saffire, experiments.<\/p>\n

\"2015-11-16-182217\"A fire will be started within the spacecraft\u2019s pressurised compartment and allowed to burn freely for up to six minutes while observed by a suite of thermocouples, radiometers and cameras.<\/p>\n

Since the Cygnus spacecraft is not designed to be recovered, the end of its mission provides the opportunity to perform these experiments, which are intended to provide a better understanding of how a fire might spread inside a manned spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Cygnus spacecraft are named after former astronauts. OA-6 is named the SS Rick Husband, after the commander of Space Shuttle Columbia\u2019s ill-fated STS-107 mission.<\/p>\n

\"2016-03-22-132853\"Husband, who also piloted Discovery during STS-96 \u2013 the second US mission to the International Space Station, joined NASA in 1995 having served as a fighter, instructor, test and demonstration pilot in the US Air Force rising to the rank of Colonel. He also served in the Royal Air Force under an exchange program.<\/p>\n

Husband was killed in February 2003 when Columbia disintegrated as she reentered Earth\u2019s atmosphere at the end of a two-week microgravity research mission. None of the seven astronauts aboard survived.<\/p>\n

Cygnus launched atop an Atlas V rocket, flying in the 401 configuration. This version of the rocket uses a four-metre payload fairing and a single-engine Centaur upper stage, with no solid rocket motors attached to the first stage. The rocket had the tail number AV-064, and was the sixty-second Atlas V to fly.<\/p>\n

\"2016-03-22-140240\"The Atlas departed Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Originally built for the Titan IIIC, the pad was also used by the Titan IIIE and Titan IV rockets before being torn down in 1999 to make way for the Atlas V.<\/p>\n

For Atlas, SLC-41 was designed to follow a \u201cclean-pad\u201d approach, with no large fixed support structures at the pad. In recent months a new fixed tower has been constructed at the complex to support future manned missions with Boeing\u2019s CST-100 capsule, allowing astronauts to board the vehicle. The rocket is fuelled and serviced through umbilicals attaching to a tower mounted upon its mobile launch platform.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n