Northrop Grummans next NASA resupply services mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch at 5:39 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 9. Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 5 p.m. on NASA Television and the agencys website.
The companys 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Loaded with approximately 8,000 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Tuesday, Feb. 11 at about 4:30 a.m.NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morganwill grapple Cygnus and NASA astronautJessica Meirwill be acting as a backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity modules Earth-facing port.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory. The Saffire-IV experiment will be conducted within Cygnus after it departs the station, and prior to deorbit, when it also will dispose of several tons of trash during a fiery reentry into Earths atmosphere May 25.
Media registration for the launch and associated activities is closed. Media can submit questions during the prelaunch news conference and the Whats on Board briefing using #askNASA.
Complete coverage of launch activities is as follows (all time Eastern):
Saturday, Feb. 8:
11 a.m. Prelaunch News Conference
Ven Feng, manager, International Space Station Transportation Integration Office, NASAs International Space Station program
Heidi Parris,assistant program scientist, International Space Station Program Science Office
Jeff Reddish, project manager, Wallops Range Antares
Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, Tactical Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
Kurt Eberly, Antares vice president, Launch and Missile Defense Systems, Northrop Grumman
3 p.m. Whats on Board Briefing
Heidi Parris,assistant program scientist, NASAs International Space Station Program Science Office
Patrick ONeill, marketing and communications senior manager, International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory
Caitlin OConnell, principal investigator, and Devin Ridgely, chief biologist, Mobile Space Lab, Scorpio-V, HNu Photonics
Bruce Hammer, principal investigator, and Louis Kidder, co-investigator, OsteoOmics, University of Minnesota
Christopher Own, facility manager and chief executive officer, and Lawrence Own, co-facility manager, Mochii, Voxa
Gary Ruff, project manager, Saffire-IV, NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
Sunday, Feb. 9:
5 p.m. Launch coverage begins
Tuesday, Feb. 11
3 a.m. Capture of Cygnus with the space stations robotic arm
6 a.m. Cygnus installation operations coverage
Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.
