Cygnus OA-9 (CRS-9) - Antares-230 - MARS LP-0A - 21.05.2018 08:44 UTC

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2018/05/21/cygnus-in-space-next-stop-station/

Cygnus In Space, Next Stop Station

Mark Garcia
Posted May 21, 2018 at 7:05 am


The Cygnus spacecraft with its cymbal-like UltraFlex solar arrays deployed was pictured departing the space station Dec. 5, 2017 during Expedition 53.

The Cygnus spacecraft's solar arrays have deployed.

The cargo ship will rendezvous with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 24. Expedition 55 Flight Engineer Scott Tingle will grapple the spacecraft at approximately 5:20 a.m. EDT, backed by Ricky Arnold, and Drew Feustel will monitor Cygnus systems during its approach. They will use the space station's robotic Canadarm2 to take hold of the Cygnus, dubbed the S.S. James "J.R." Thompson. After Cygnus' capture, ground controllers will command the robotic arm to rotate and install Cygnus onto the station's Unity module. It is scheduled depart the space station in mid-July.

Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will air on NASA Television and the agency's website beginning at 3:45 a.m. Thursday, May 24. Installation coverage is set to begin at 7:30 a.m.

Спойлер

Science investigations aboard Cygnus on their way to the space station also include commercial and academic payloads in myriad disciplines, including:

[/li]
• The Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST), an investigation to identify unknown microbial organisms on the space station and understand how humans, plants and microbes adapt to living on the station
• The Cold Atom Laboratory, a physics research facility used by scientists to explore how atoms interact when they have almost no motion due to extreme cold temperatures
• A unique liquid separation system from Zaiput Flow Technologies that relies on surface forces, rather than gravity, to extract one liquid from another
• The Ice Cubes Facility, the first commercial European opportunity to conduct research in space, made possible through an agreement with ESA (European Space Agency) and Space Applications Services.
• The Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS) experiment is to investigate and understand the complex process of cement solidification in microgravity with the intent of improving Earth-based cement and concrete processing and as the first steps toward making and using concrete on extraterrestrial bodies.
• Three Earth science CubeSats
• RainCube (Radar in a CubeSat) will be NASA's first active sensing instrument on a CubeSat that could enable future rainfall profiling missions on low-cost, quick-turnaround platforms.
• TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration) is mission to validate technology that could improve our understanding of cloud processes.
• CubeRRT (CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology) will seek to demonstrate a new technology that can identify and filter radio frequency interference, which is a growing problem that negatively affects the data quality collected by radiometers, instruments used in space for critical weather data and climate studies.
  

[/li][/LIST]

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https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=357

Orbital ATK Successfully Launches Ninth Cargo Delivery Mission to the International Space Station for NASA

Antares Rocket Launched 7,400 P ounds of Critical Supplies to the Station
Cygnus Scheduled to Berth with Space Station on May 24

Dulles, Virginia 21 May 2018 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, successfully launched the company's AntaresTM rocket carrying its CygnusTM spacecraft today at 4:44 a.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, Virginia, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The launch marks Orbital ATK's ninth cargo mission for NASA.

Спойлер

The Antares medium-class rocket matched its record for the heaviest cargo load carried to date with approximately 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of vital supplies and scientific equipment aboard Cygnus that will be delivered to the crew aboard the International Space Station.

Following an approximate nine-minute ascent, the "S.S. J.R. Thompson" Cygnus spacecraft, named in honor of J.R. Thompson, a distinguished leader in the space industry, was successfully deployed into orbit. Orbital ATK's engineering team confirmed reliable communications have been established and the vehicle's solar arrays are fully deployed, providing the necessary electrical power to operate the spacecraft.

"Watching an Antares launch cargo to the International Space Station is always impressive," said Scott Lehr, President of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group. "The team works very hard to ensure each NASA commercial resupply mission is successful."

Cygnus will be grappled at approximately 5:20 a.m. EDT on May 24. The spacecraft will remain attached to the space station for approximately seven weeks before departing with up to 7,100 pounds (approximately 3,200 kilograms) of disposal cargo. Cygnus's large-volume disposal capability is unique among America's commercial cargo providers and a critical service for NASA.

On this mission, Cygnus will also fly for the first time with an upgraded communications system known as Common Communication for Visiting Vehicles (C2V2). This new system provides Cygnus with the capability for enhanced communication with science payloads and improved interface with hosted payloads on future missions.

"Orbital ATK is proud to once again support the crew on the International Space Station by delivering valuable supplies, equipment and science," said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group. "The upgraded avionics and communication system on the spacecraft demonstrate our commitment to increasing the flexibility and versatility of Cygnus to carry a wide range of payloads. We are also honored to name this mission after J.R. Thompson, a pioneer in the space industry and someone who many of us here at Orbital ATK and in the NASA community were honored to call a colleague and friend."

Once the "S.S. J.R. Thompson" unberths from the space station, a NanoRacks deployer will release six cubesats. Upon completion of its secondary missions, Cygnus will perform a safe, destructive reentry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Under the CRS-1 contract with NASA, Orbital ATK will deliver approximately 66,000 pounds (30,000 kilograms) of cargo to the space station. Beginning in 2019, the company will carry out a minimum of six cargo missions under NASA's CRS-2 contract. This partnership is cultivating a robust American commercial space industry, freeing NASA to focus on developing the next-generation rocket and spacecraft that will enable humans to conduct deep space exploration missions.

The Cygnus system consists of a common service module and pressurized cargo module (PCM). Orbital ATK builds and tests the service module at its manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. The company manufactures several other Cygnus components at three facilities in California: UltraFlexTM solar arrays in Goleta, composite structures in San Diego and propellant tanks in Commerce. The PCM is provided by industry partner Thales Alenia Space in Torino, Italy.

B-roll and animation footage for the mission can be found here: http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/bmc/#. Please note that media will need to request a PIN for access.

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 11 мин. назад

NASA: #Cygnus helps extend the payload space while it's docked to the @Space_Station, allowing astronauts to complete more science experiments on the station

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-sends-new-research-on-orbital-atk-mission-to-space-station

May 21, 2018
RELEASE 18-037

NASA Sends New Research on Orbital ATK Mission to Space Station


The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches from Pad-0A, Monday, May 21, 2018 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Orbital ATK's ninth contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver approximately 7,400 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Astronauts soon will have new experiments to conduct related to emergency navigation, DNA sequencing and ultra-cold atom research when the research arrives at the International Space Station following the 4:44 a.m. EDT Monday launch of an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft.

Спойлер

Cygnus lifted off on an Antares 230 rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Orbital ATK's ninth cargo mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The spacecraft is carrying about 7,400 pounds of research equipment, cargo and supplies that will support dozens of the more than 250 investigations underway on the space station.

NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Ricky Arnold will use the space station's robotic arm to capture Cygnus when it arrives at the station Thursday, May 24. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will air on NASA Television and the agency's website beginning at 3:45 a.m. Installation coverage is set to begin at 7:30 a.m.

Included in the cargo in the pressurized area of Cygnus is a centuries-old method of celestial navigation. The Sextant Navigation investigation will explore the use of a hand-held sextant for emergency navigation on missions in deep space as humans look to travel farther from Earth. The ability to sight angles between the Moon or planets and stars offers crews another option to find their way home if communications and main computers are compromised.

Monitoring crew health and the biological environment of the space station, and understanding long-term effects of space travel on both, are critical to NASA's plans for long-duration, deep space exploration. The Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology (BEST) study is the agency's next step toward advancing in-space DNA sequencing technologies that can identify microbial organisms living on the space station and understanding how the DNA of humans, plants and microbes are affected by microgravity. BEST will use a process that sequences DNA directly from a sample, with minimal preparation, rather than using the traditional technique of growing a culture from the sample. 

In the realm of modern physics, the new Cold Atom Lab (CAL) on Cygnus could help answer some big questions. CAL creates a temperature 10 billion times colder than the vacuum of space, then uses lasers and magnetic forces to slow down atoms until they are almost motionless. In the microgravity environment of the space station, CAL can observe these ultra-cold atoms for much longer than possible on Earth. Results of this research could lead to a number of improved technologies, including sensors, quantum computers and atomic clocks used in spacecraft navigation. 

Cygnus is scheduled to depart the station in July with several tons of trash and burn up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, over the Pacific Ocean. The vehicle is named after James "J.R." Thompson, a leader in the aerospace industry.

For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,400 research investigations from researchers in 103 countries.

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Last Updated: May 21, 2018
Editor: Sean Potter

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НОРАД зарегистрировал 2 объекта запуска

Код Выделить Развернуть

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43474U 18046A   18141.42546446 -.00003606  11404-4  00000+0 0  9990
2 43474  51.6172 152.3929 0070532 140.6046 327.6604 16.01566830    09

0 TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
1 43475U 18046B   18141.42570117 -.00003683  11644-4  00000+0 0  9994
2 43475  51.6102 152.3490 0061830 137.5048 332.6160 16.10835081    04
43474 / 2018-046A : 223 x 317 km x 51.62°
43475 / 2018-046B : 204 x 286 km x 51.61°

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U.S. Commercial Cargo Craft Heads to the Space Station

NASA Video

Опубликовано: 21 мая 2018 г.

The remotely piloted Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft launched May 21 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia atop an Antares rocket, headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver several tons of scientific experiments and supplies for the station residents. Dubbed the SS "J.R. Thompson" in honor of the late spacefaring manager for both NASA and Orbital ATK, Cygnus will be robotically captured and installed to the earth-facing port of the station's Unity module for a two-month stay at the orbital outpost.

(10:49)

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Antares CRS-9 Launch 'Quicklook' Video

NASAWallops

Опубликовано: 21 мая 2018 г.

Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off aboard the company's Antares rocket at 4:44:06 a.m. EDT May 21, 2018, from Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The International Space Station-bound Cygnus was loaded with about 7,400 pounds of supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations occurring during the space station's Expeditions 55 and 56. These three video sequences show the CRS-9 launch from remotely operated cameras at the pad (sequence Nos. 1 and 2), and a camera operated at a viewing site a few miles away (sequence No. 3).

(1:09)

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/2018/05/21/crs-9-launch-additional-views/

CRS-9 Launch: Additional Views

Rob Garner
Posted May 21, 2018 at 10:20 am

Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off aboard the company's Antares rocket at 4:44:06 a.m. EDT May 21, 2018, from Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The International Space Station-bound Cygnus was loaded with about 7,400 pounds of supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations occurring during the space station's Expeditions 55 and 56.

Спойлер

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=xURzEk9pais
(video 1:09)

The three video sequences above show the CRS-9 launch from remotely operated cameras at the pad (sequence Nos. 1 and 2) and a camera operated at a viewing site a few miles away (sequence No. 3).


(Photo courtesy Jared Haworth/We Report Space)
it's a 5 minute, 56 second exposure shot on a full frame Canon camera with a 17-40mm lens. The camera was set at ISO100, f/16 and bulb mode, requiring the use of a sturdy tripod and a remote shutter release cable to prevent any shaking or blur of the image. In order to prevent the launchpad from being too overexposed, the picture was actually started a few seconds after ignition, as the rocket began to clear the transporter-erector-launcher. Past experience at Wallops told me that the rocket would appear to travel "right to left" at launch, and that the second stage should be visible about four minutes into flight. The early morning launch meant the second stage would be illuminated by the sun even while our viewing location was still in the pre-dawn darkness.

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НОРАД идентифицировал объекты запуска

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Anatoly Zak‏ @RussianSpaceWeb 9 ч. назад

If my 20 years of counting is correct, today's Cygnus OA-9 launch was actually the 200th mission to build and maintain the ISS (but because it is "international" space station, no agency cares to count the totals!    HERE IT IS:
http://russianspaceweb.com/iss_chronology_flights.html ... ...

[Not]

Скромненько так, улетел, тихо-мирно. Груза на полтора дракона, шума - на одну десятую.  

[Василий Ратников]

Not, что же ты рожа резиновая за пиндосов болеешь ?
радуешься их успехам либераст предатель ?
поди на Навального ночами наяриваешь ?
тфу на тебя. (с) патриот усманов.

[Alex_II]

Not пишет:
Груза на полтора дракона

Ну, это ты как всегда врешь, ПН больше 3513кг на Сигнусе не зафиксировано... Дракон по максимуму тащил 3136... Ты у нас поклонник альтернативной математики, у тебя разница в 10% уже стала 50%?

[Not]

Alex_II пишет:

Not пишет:
Груза на полтора дракона

Ну, это ты как всегда врешь, ПН больше 3513кг на Сигнусе не зафиксировано... Дракон по максимуму тащил 3136...

Крайний раз Дракон притащил 2630. Причем заметьте, Сигнус тащит свой груз без всяких ритуальных плясок с переохлажденным кислородом, хотя и мог бы. Но ослов в Орбитал нет   

[Max Andriyahov]

including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations occurring during the space station's Expeditions 55 and 56

интересно, есть там что-нибудь необычное?

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/05/21/antares-rocket-launch-kicks-off-space-stations-next-commercial-cargo-delivery/

Antares rocket launch kicks off space station's next commercial cargo delivery
May 21, 2018 | Stephen Clark


Orbital ATK's Antares rocket lifts off fr om pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now

An Orbital ATK Antares rocket streaked into orbit early Monday fr om Wallops Island, Virginia, with a commercial Cygnus cargo craft carrying a quantum research experiment, an investigation into the properties of concrete in space, fresh food and other provisions for the International Space Station's six-person crew.

It was the 200th mission to blast off for the International Space Station since the research facility's first module flew into orbit in November 1998.

The two-stage launcher ignited its two Russian-made RD-181 main engines at 4:44:06 a.m. EDT (0844:06 GMT) Monday, and the Antares rocket lifted off a few seconds later from pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Спойлер

Riding a column of flame from its kerosene-fueled twin-engine first stage, the 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) Antares rocket climbed through broken cloud layers and pitched southeast over the Atlantic Ocean after liftoff, which occurred five minutes later than scheduled to allow for threatening clouds to move out of the launcher's flight path.

Liftoff was previously pushed back from Sunday to allow for better weather and additional time for pre-flight inspections.

The two RD-181 engines, generating a combined 864,000 pounds at full throttle, powered the rocket and its supply ship payload downrange from the Virginia launch base, located on NASA property at the Wallops Flight Facility on the Atlantic coastline.

The first stage, manufactured in Ukraine, switched off and jettisoned around three-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, then the Antares rocket released a shroud covering the Cygnus spacecraft before igniting a solid-fueled, U.S.-made upper stage to send the logistics carrier and its 7,385 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of cargo into orbit.

The automated supply ship separated from the Antares upper stage around nine minutes into the mission, then unfolded two fan-shaped solar panels to start generating electricity, and conducted its first orbit-raising burn to commence a three-day pursuit of the space station, kicking off Orbital ATK's ninth resupply run to the international research facility.

The Cygnus spacecraft is set to arrive at the space station early Thursday. Astronaut Scott Tingle will take command of the station's Canadian-built robotic arm to grapple the supply ship around 5:20 a.m. EDT (0920 GMT) Thursday, and ground controllers will maneuver the cargo vehicle to a berthing port on the Harmony module for a nearly two-month stay.

Ground teams loaded 7,205 pounds (3,268 kilograms) of hardware and provisions into the Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized compartment, built by Thales Alenia Space in Italy. The breakdown of cargo aboard the mission launched Monday, known as OA-9 in Orbital ATK's flight sequence, includes:

[/li]
• 2,626 pounds (1,191 kilograms) of vehicle hardware
• 2,251 pounds (1,021 kilograms) of science investigations
• 1,788 pounds (811 kilograms) of crew supplies
• 291 pounds (132 kilograms) of spacewalk equipment
• 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of computer resources
• 29 pounds (13 kilograms) of Russian hardware
  

A commercial deployment platform provided by NanoRacks, a Houston-based company that brokers opportunities for researchers to send their experiments into space, is mounted outside the Cygnus spacecraft to release six tiny CubeSats in orbit after the supply ship departs the space station in July.

The NanoRacks deployer, and the CubeSats contained inside, weighs around 181 pounds (82 kilograms), giving the OA-9 mission a total "upmass" of 7,385 pounds (3,350 kilograms), according to a NASA fact sheet.


The Antares rocket lifts off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Monday. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Once Cygnus arrives at the station, astronauts will unpack equipment stowed inside the supply ship's internal compartment, transferring hardware to storage locations and research racks housed inside lab modules on the orbiting outpost.

Scientists plan to use one of the experiments launched aboard the Cygnus supply ship to explore the nature of ultra-cold matter, probing the behavior of atoms chilled to extreme temperatures colder than the vacuum of space.

The Cold Atom Laboratory, developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will spend at least three years serving as a platform for quantum experiments.

"Right there in the name is the word cold," said Eric Cornell, a Nobel Prize winner in physics and principal investigator one of the investigations that will use the Cold Atom Laboratory. "Way down in the heart of that thing ... we hope to get to temperatures of something less than 1 nano-Kelvin, so we intend to get within a billionth of a degree of absolute zero."

The chilling conditions inside the Cold Atom Laboratory will slow the movement of atoms until they are almost motionless, forming Bose-Einstein condensates, a low-energy state of matter wh ere atoms become synchronized and exhibit characteristics of a single continuous wave, rather than individual particles, according to NASA.

Research into Bose-Einstein condensates on Earth are limited by the effects of gravity, which causes atoms to settle to the ground in a fraction of second. In space, high-resolution imagers inside the Cold Atom Laboratory could observe the behavior of the condensates for up to 10 seconds in free fall, allowing scientists to probe their properties and study fundamental quantum mechanics that could find applications in miniaturized technology, atomic clocks and quantum computers.

"If you want to be able to design the technology that's going to underpin the economy of tomorrow, you have to understand quantum mechanics," Cornell said. "It's true that quantum mechanics is the science of the very, very small. But due to sort of a twist of fate, it's also the science of the extraordinarily cold."

Scientists will command the Cold Atom Laboratory from the ground while the crew sleeps, minimizing interference and accelerations from astronaut activity that could mask the facility's precise quantum measurements.


This sequence of false-color images shows the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the Cold Atom Laboratory prototype at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the temperature gets progressively closer to absolute zero, the temperature at which atoms have almost no motion. Red in each figure indicates higher density. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Another science experiment launched Monday will study the solidification of cement in microgravity.

"We are looking into colonizing space," said Aleksandra Radlinska, principal investigator for the cement experiment from Penn State University. "We want to go to the moon and deep space beyond, and we will need shelters for the human missions. We will need to protect equipment from radiation effects and impacts that these could experience."

Concrete could be a "go-to" material to build such shelters, she said.

"In our research, we actually look into how cement reacts with water, and how this very complex process of microstructure formation happens in space," Radlinska said.

Despite the prolific use of concrete, the process of solidification when mixing cement and water "has been fascinating scientists for the last 50 years," she said. "And for the last 50 years, despite the current technology and instrumentation that we have, we still don't understand that process completely."

Radlinska's team sent up multiple pouches with cement and water for astronauts to mix on the space station. The samples will come back to Earth for comparison with the results obtained from similar pouches mixed on the ground, according to Juliana Neves, a graduate researcher on the experiment at Penn State.

The investigation will ultimately help address two questions, Radlinska said: "How can we use it more sustainably on Earth, and how can we make usage of raw materials present in space and make a concrete-like cement binder in space?"

A commercially-developed device launched aboard the Cygnus mission Monday will test a method of separating liquids in microgravity for Zaiput Flow Technologies, a Massachusetts-based company. The mechanism will use surface tension, instead of gravity as used on Earth, to separate water from an organic solvent, demonstrating a method that could be employed by future expeditions synthesizing chemicals in space or on another planet to produce water and rocket fuel.

The Cygnus supply ship will also deliver equipment for astronauts to install outside the space station on a spacewalk scheduled for June 14, and engineers will demonstrate the first use of a new communications system that will allow the station crew to establish radio links with Cygnus during the final approach Thursday.

The same proximity communications system will be used by Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew vehicles as they rendezvous with the orbiting complex.

Nine CubeSats packaged inside the Cygnus pressurized cabin will be transferred into the station's Japanese Kibo lab, wh ere astronauts will place them in an airlock for retrieval by a robotic arm, which will position the nanosatellites for release into orbit in the coming months.

The nine CubeSats set for release from the space station are:

[/li]
• CubeRRT, a 6U CubeSat developed at Ohio State University with NASA funding to test a new signal processor to mitigate radio interference impacting microwave radiometer measurements of soil moisture, atmospheric water vapor, sea surface temperature and winds from orbit.
• EQUiSat, a 1U CubeSat developed by Brown University with NASA support as an educational outreach mission, with a secondary objective of demonstrating a new type of battery in space.
• HaloSat, a 6U CubeSat developed at the University of Iowa in partnership with NASA to detect X-ray gas emissions around the Milky Way galaxy.
• MemSat, a 1U CubeSat developed at Rowan University in partnership with NASA, will test a memristor device that could be flown on future satellites to make them more energy efficient and more resilient to power failures.
• RadSat-g, a 3U CubeSat developed at Montana State University in partnership with NASA, will test a new radiation tolerant computer system.
• RainCube, a 6U CubeSat developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will demonstrate the viability and performance of a new expandable Ka-band precipitation radar that can be packaged into a volume to fit in a nanosatellite.
• TEMPEST-D, a 6U CubeSat developed at Colorado State University in partnership with NASA, is a risk mitigation mission for a planned constellation of Earth observation CubeSats that will track the steps in the formation of clouds, precipitation and storms.
• EnduroSat One, a 1U CubeSat developed in Bulgaria, carries an amateur radio payload.
• Radix, a 6U CubeSat owned by a commercial company known as Analytical Space, will test a laser communications terminal planned for use on a future constellation of orbiting data relay nanosatellites to enable high-speed optical downlinks to Earth.
  

Artist's illustration of the RainCube spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Cygnus spacecraft is named for J.R. Thompson, the former chief operating officer at Orbital Sciences Corp. who died last year. Thompson served in multiple management positions at Orbital, overseeing development of the Antares rocket and other vehicles in the company's launcher family.

He had a lengthy career at NASA before joining Orbital Sciences, including stints as the space agency's deputy administrator and as director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Thompson was manager of the space shuttle main engine development project at Marshall in the 1970s, and he previously served as a liquid propulsion systems engineer on the J-2 engine that flew on the Saturn 5 moon rocket.

Before the Cygnus spacecraft's planned July 15 departure from the station, it will conduct a brief maneuver to reboost the research lab's orbit. It will be the first time a commercial U.S. cargo vehicle has attempted a space station reboost, a capability currently only provided by Russian spacecraft.

Visiting space shuttles and Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle also provided reboost services before their retirement.

The orbit-raising maneuver will only nudge the space station into a slightly higher orbit, and mission planners have penciled in the reboost demonstration for a time when the research complex is already in the proper orientation for the maneuver, soon after the docking of a Russian Progress cargo freighter in early July.

At that time, the Cygnus spacecraft's main engine, which faces Earth during most of the ship's stay at the space station, will be aligned roughly parallel with Earth's surface with the station's direction of travel, or velocity vector.

"We'll test it out and see if it works, and it definitely opens up options for us in the future," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We'll continue to have to reboost. The station is reboosted several times a year, and at the end of life, we'll have to deboost the station, and of course, you have to do that very carefully. It's a very large station, and we want to put it in at a specific place over the planet. We'll need a lot of capability at that time as well."

"Our team is excited," said Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager of Orbital ATK's advanced programs division. "We hope to be able to do that test toward the end of our stay on the ISS, and hopefully that's another aspect of Cygnus that NASA can use in the future."

After leaving the space station, Cygnus will fire its engine to climb into a higher orbit, to an altitude of roughly 310 miles (500 kilometers), for deployment of six more CubeSats.

The final CubeSat deployments include four "Lemur-2" payloads for Spire Global, which builds and operates a fleet of nanosatellites surveying Earth's atmosphere and tracking maritime traffic. The Aerospace Corp.'s AeroCube 12A and 12B spacecraft will also be released to demonstrate new star-tracker imaging sensors, a variety of nanotechnology payloads, advanced solar cells, and an electric propulsion system on one of the two satellites, according to NanoRacks, which provided accommodations for the CubeSats on the Cygnus mission.

At the end of the mission, Cygnus will drop out of orbit and burn up over the South Pacific Ocean with several tons of trash no longer needed on the space station.

Orbital ATK is one of two current providers of commercial resupply services to the station through a contract with NASA. The agency's other cargo transportation provider, SpaceX, has launched 14 operational logistics missions to date, and both companies have suffered one launch failure during a resupply flight.

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[tnt22]

Лебедь провёл манёвр по поднятию орбиты

[Max Andriyahov]

Космический бетон, конденсат Бозе-Эйнштейна и попытка разогнать станцию. 

https://aboutspacejornal.net/2018/05/22/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%83%D1%87%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8B-%D0%B8-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%8B-%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8/

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2018/05/21/iss-daily-summary-report-5212018/

ISS Daily Summary Report – 5/21/2018

Orbital-ATK 9 (OA-9) Launch:

Спойлер

OA-9 launched from the Wallops Flight Facility this morning at 08:44:06 GMT (3:44 CT). The Cygnus solar arrays have been deployed nominally. OA-9 capture and berthing to the ISS is planned for Thursday 24-May.

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OA-9 Robotics Onboard Training:

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Earlier today, Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS in support of the crew's Cygnus Offset Grapple practice. During the Off Set Grapple activity, the crew used the PMM FRGF as the target to practice grapple approaches, maneuvering the SSRMS over the pin and practice pulling the trigger when they are in the grapple envelope. After the Offset Grapple training, the crew performed a Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) session. ROBoT is an on-orbit version of the ground-based Dynamics Skills Trainer (DST) that simulates robotics operations with graphical feedback.

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OA-9 Arrival Preparations:

Спойлер

In preparation for OA-9 capture and berthing on Thursday, the crew deployed, and perform a checkout of, the Centerline Berthing Camera System (CBCS) on the Node 1 Nadir hatch. Video from the CBCS will be used to aid Flight Controllers during Visiting Vehicle mating operations.

[свернуть]