A private cargo ship’s trip to the International Space Station (ISS) won’t go as planned.
Northop Grumman’s Cygnus Robotic Cargo Ship I went to the International Space Station this morning (November 7) from Virginia, packed with more than 4.1 tons (3.7 metric tons) of food and other supplies for astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The launch went smoothly, but swan She ran into some trouble after breaking up with the Antares rocket’s flight: The cargo ship was able to deploy only one of its two solar arrays.
Members of the mission team are working on troubleshooting, but Cygnus may still be able to make his way to the space station at a rendezvous on Wednesday (November 9) even if no solution is found.
Northrop Grumman told NASA that Cygnus has enough power to rendezvous with International Space Station On Wednesday, November 9, to complete its primary mission, NASA is evaluating this and the configuration required for capture and docking,” NASA officials wrote in Today’s Brief Update (Opens in a new tab).
Related: Facts about the International Space Station
This vehicle is Cygnus, named SS Sally Ride After the first American woman arrives in space, she will carry more payloads by mass to the International Space Station than any previous Northup Grumman cargo ship, if all goes as planned.
The manifest for the SS Sally Ride includes 3,608 pounds (1,637 kg) of crew supplies, 2,375 pounds (1,077 kg) of vehicle equipment, and 1,873 pounds (850 kg) of science equipment, and 145 pounds (66 kg) of spacewalk equipment and 172 pounds (78 lbs kg) of computer resources, NASA officials said.
Among the many science experiments flying aboard the cargo ship is a 3D printer known as biofabrication facility (Opens in a new tab)designed to print organ-like tissue in microgravity, and a study that will assess how the space environment affects ovarian cells.
Cygnus is one of three robotic spacecraft currently carrying cargo to the International Space Station, along with Russia. progress SpaceX Dragon capsule and vehicle.
Cygnus and Progress are two expendable compounds that burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere when their time in orbit expires. Dragonby contrast, returns to Earth in one piece for future reuse.
Mike Wall is the author of “Abroad (Opens in a new tab)Book (Great Grand Publishing House, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrials. Follow him on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab) or Facebook (Opens in a new tab).
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