Cygnus, a robotic cargo ship built by aerospace giant Northop Grumman, launched to the ISS on Monday (November 7) from Virginia. If all goes according to plan, the astronauts will capture the vehicle using the orbiter’s robotic arm around 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT).
You can watch the rendezvous and download activities live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA, beginning at 3:30 a.m. EST (0830 GMT). After a break, coverage of the installation of Cygnus on the International Space Station’s Unity module will begin at 7:15 a.m. EST (1215 GMT).
This Cygnus vehicle, named SS Sally Ride after the famous NASA astronaut, carries about 4.1 tons (3.7 metric tons) of science experiments and supplies to the ISS — more than any other Cygnus has taken to the sky.
The SS Sally Ride’s flight wasn’t entirely smooth: The truck only managed to deploy one of its two solar panels after liftoff. Its operators say it can make the trip to the ISS safely independently, but mission teams will be watching for any signs of trouble as it approaches the orbiting lab.
“Northrop Grumman is working closely with NASA to monitor and evaluate the spacecraft ahead of tomorrow’s scheduled arrival, capture and deployment to the space station,” NASA officials said in an update (opens in new tab) Tuesday night ( November 8). “Mission teams also plan additional inspections of the cargo spacecraft during approach and after capture.”
Three different robotic spacecraft are carrying cargo to the ISS these days: Cygnus, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, and Russia’s Progress vehicle.
Cygnus and Progress burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after their delivery missions are completed, but Dragon returns for safe ocean launches and future reuse.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out there (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or Facebook (opens in a new tab).
