Cygnus is loaded with 4 tonnes of material, crew supplies and research equipment. It was launched from Virginia on Monday morning. The ISS crew captured the spacecraft using a robotic arm and docked Cygnus in an available port. NASA tweeted a video of the capture that clearly shows only one of the round solar arrays open. NASA announced the solar array problem in a brief statement Monday, saying Northrop Grumman is gathering data on the second array’s deployment and working closely with the space agency to investigate what happened. Northrop Grumman said the spacecraft had sufficient power to rendezvous with the ISS as planned. That estimate turned out to be accurate. The unmanned cargo craft uses foldable solar arrays that fold up during launch and later unfold like circular fans. A Northrop Grumman video from 2015 shows what the process looks like. This particular Cygnus spacecraft is named SS Sally Ride in honor of the first American woman in space. It carries some interesting experiments related to 3D printing of human tissue and growing plants in microgravity. A Cygnus cargo spacecraft does not return to Earth. The crew usually packs it with trash before it detaches, re-enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, like an elaborate garbage disposal system. The newly arrived Cygnus will stay on the ISS until the end of January.
The International Space Station shines in stunning shots from the SpaceX Crew Dragon
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Solar arrays in space can be tricky. NASA’s asteroid-focused Lucy spacecraft has run into trouble fully deploying one of its fan-like solar arrays after launch in 2021. The spacecraft is continuing its mission despite the problem.
The SS Sally Ride has valuable cargo on board, including a support arm needed for an upcoming spacewalk. NASA and Northrop Grumman will continue to look into the solar array problem in hopes of preventing another issue on a future mission.
