Cygnus COTS Demo - Antares-110 - 18.09.2013 - Wallops/MARS LP-0A

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Конец трансляции НАСА.

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Cygnus Spacecraft departs ISS after successful Demonstration Mission
http://www.spaceflight101.com/antares---cygnus-orb-d-mission-updates.html

The first Cygnus to visit the International Space Station has departed the orbiting outpost on Tuesday after completing a successful demonstration mission. Cygnus is now getting ready for its final day in orbit followed by destructive re-entry to finish its flight.

The crew members got started early on Tuesday to finish the vestibule outfitting task they had started on Monday. The USOS crew members configured the vestibule for unberthing by closing Cygnus' hatch, removing power and data jumpers and covers, installing four Controller Panel Assemblies and putting the Central Disk Cover in place

Once vestibule outfitting was complete, the crew members closed the Node-2 nadir hatch and began leak checks in the vestibule between the two spacecraft to make sure both hatches were holding pressure.

Once leak checks were complete, the crew members depressurized the vestibule and started the unberthing operation that began with the release of the 16 Common Berthing Mechanism bolts that held Cygnus in place. After driving the bolts in four groups of four, the crew deployed capture latches to unberth the spacecraft. Unberthing was confirmed at 10:05 UTC on Tuesday. Using Canadarm2, Cygnus was then pulled free of any structure and the CBM pedestals were closed.

Over the course of about one hour, Cygnus was carefully moved to its Release Position about 10 meters fr om the Station. Once in the correct position, Cygnus was reconfigured for release. The spacecraft started acquiring star tracker data for attitude and navigation. Also, the spacecraft was transitioned from Canadarm to internal power supply and its control system was switched to Free Drift to prevent any thruster firings during the release sequence.

At the Cupola Robotics Workstation, Luca Parmitano and Karen Nyberg performed their final set of reconfigurations to set up the robotic arm for the release sequence. They had to wait for proper lighting conditions for the release before being given the final go-ahead from Mission Control.

For release, capture latches and snares of the Canadarm2 Latching End Effector were opened and the LEE was pulled away from the Cygnus spacecraft. Release occurred on time at 11:31 UTC while the Station was flying over the Atlantic just off the coast of South America.

Спойлер

When Canadarm2 was clear of the vehicle and had pulled back to a safe distance of 1.5 meters, the crew members issued an Abort Command to Cygnus via the Hardware Command Panel to initiate the departure – this Abort Command is part of the nominal departure sequence for Cygnus that is designed differently than the departure of other visiting vehicles.

After processing the Abort Command, Cygnus fired its Reaction Control System Engines to perform a posigrade burn to start its departure. The spacecraft pulled away in front of the Space Station and exited the Keep Out Sphere about six minutes after release and conducted its Departure Burn to increase its opening rate – setting the vehicle up to fly in front of ISS before allowing the Station to pass underneath it later on Tuesday.

Following its Departure Burn, Cygnus transitioned to Free Flight Mode – pointing its solar panels to the sun and reconfiguring its navigation system. After passing above ISS, Cygnus performs two engine burns to place itself in a lower orbit later on Tuesday to get ready for its final deorbit burn on Wednesday.

With Cygnus in Free Flight, OSC  Mission Control Dulles once again has full authority over their spacecraft, guiding it through its final day in orbit. On Wednesday at 13:06 UTC, Cygnus performs another burn to lower its orbit to set the stage for the Deorbit Burn that will occur at 17:41 UTC. Using its BT-4 engine, Cygnus will slow down just enough to intercept the atmosphere at a pre-determined location to start its fiery trip back to Earth.

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Re-Entry is expected at 18:18 UTC on Wednesday. Re-Entry targets a location over the Pacific Ocean known as Spacecraft Cemetery wh ere surviving vehicle components can splash down far away from any populated areas. When hitting the dense atmosphere, Cygnus will break-up and burn up with loaded trash to put a fiery end to its mission.

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October 22, 2013

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Перед расстыковкой. Фото Карен Найберг.

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Cygnus Re-Enters Atmosphere to Close Out Successful Mission
http://www.spaceflight101.com/antares---cygnus-orb-d-mission-updates.html

Cygnus has ended its very successful demonstration flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday by making a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft had been released by the Station's robotic arm on Tuesday after a three-week stay at the complex to spend its final day in free flight, lowering its orbit for the final deorbit burn that took place at 17:41 UTC on Wednesday.

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Cygnus has performed a nearly flawless demonstration flight, launching atop an Antares launch vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility on September 18. The spacecraft had a packed schedule, filled with a number of demonstration objectives that needed to be fulfilled before the spacecraft could get close to the Space Station. The first set of demonstrations took place on Flight Day 1 as Cygnus was put through a range of tests of its navigation and control system.

The vehicle also started the climb to the Space Station's orbit to get ready for its rendezvous that was originally planned to take place on September 22, but had to be aborted when the flight computer aboard Cygnus could not make sense of GPS position data sent by the Space Station. Orbital Sciences mission controllers developed a fix while Cygnus spent some additional time in free flight, making room for incoming Soyuz traffic that delivered the Expedition 37/38 crew to ISS in late September. Finally, on September 28, Cygnus once again started closing in for its rendezvous and capture.

This time, no unexpected problems occurred and Cygnus passed all of its mandatory objectives ahead of being captured by the Space Station's robotic arm. The G. David Low spacecraft was berthed later that day and had its hatch opened by the USOS crew one day later, giving the Space Station crew the opportunity to take a look inside the new vehicle.

Over the course of three weeks, the crew in orbit was busy moving delivered items to the Station and loading Cygnus with trash and other items for disposal. This week, Cygnus was once again buttoned up and unberthed from the Station. Release occurred on Tuesday and Cygnus set sail for a short 31-hour flight toward its big finale. Two orbit adjustments took place later on Tuesday followed by another orbit lowering maneuver on Wednesday to put Cygnus into a position for its final deorbit burn.

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Using its BT-4 engine, Cygnus performed its retrograde deorbit burn at about 17:41 UTC on Wednesday, slowing down just enough to intercept the dense atmosphere. At 18:16 UTC, the spacecraft hit the dense layers of the atmosphere and started feeling the effects of re-entry. About three minutes after Entry Interface, Mission Control Dulles received the final telemetry signals from the vehicle as it broke up above the Pacific Ocean. Surviving fragments splashed down in the Pacific, west of New Zealand, at a safe distance to populated land masses.

The Orb-D mission had a duration of 35 days, 3 hours and 18 minutes from launch through Entry Interface and marked a huge success for Orbital Sciences and NASA's COTS program that is close to its completion. A final review of the mission and the performance of the Cygnus spacecraft will be performed in the coming weeks, before Orbital Sciences officially transitions to the Commercial Resupply Services Program – signaling the beginning of regular Cygnus missions to ISS.

Preparations for the next Cygnus mission, Orb-1, are already in full swing at Wallops. The Antares launch vehicle for that mission is already at the Horizontal Integration Facility, undergoing launch preparations. The Pressurized Cargo Module is also at the launch site and is in the process of being loaded with cargo for its mission. On Wednesday, as one Cygnus mission ended, the Service Module for the next started its road trip from Orbital's Facility to the launch site for final processing and integration with its cargo module. The launch of the Orb-1 mission is scheduled for December 15-21, 2013 for an arrival at ISS just before Christmas.

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Cygnus Cargo Delivery Demonstration Mission Highlights

Orbital launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft on September 18, 2013 aboard its Antares rocket from Wallops Island Virginia. On September 29 Cygnus rendezvoused and docked with e International Space Station carrying approximately 700 kg of cargo to demonstrate the commercial cargo resupply system orbital developed with NASA. On October 22, 2103 Cygnus departed from the station loaded with disposal cargo from the station and reentered the atmosphere the following day. The successful completion of this demonstration mission will allow Orbital to begin regularly scheduled cargo missions to the space station, the first of which is slated to occur later this year.