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/2018/07/15/astronauts-release-u-s-spacecraft-completing-cargo-mission/

Astronauts Release U.S. Spacecraft Completing Cargo Mission

Mark Garcia
Posted Jul 15, 2018 at 8:57 am


The Cygnus cargo craft slowly departs the space station after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV

Expedition 56 Flight Engineers Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA commanded the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to release the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at 8:37 a.m. EDT. At the time of release, the station was flying 253 miles above the Southeastern border of Colombia. Earlier, ground controllers used the robotic arm to unberth Cygnus.

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The departing spacecraft will move a safe distance away from the space station before deploying a series of CubeSats. Cygnus will remain in orbit for two more weeks to allow a flight control team to conduct engineering tests.

Cynus is scheduled to deorbit with thousands of pounds of trash on Monday, July 30, as it burns up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean while entering the Earth's atmosphere. The satellite deployment and deorbit burn will not be broadcast on NASA Television.

The spacecraft arrived on station May 24 delivering cargo for Orbital ATK's (now Northrop Grumman's) ninth contracted mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

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https://ria.ru/space/20180715/1524622541.html

Американский космический грузовик Cygnus покинул МКС

16:01 15.07.2018


© NASA

МОСКВА, 15 июл — РИА Новости. Американский грузовой космический корабль Cygnus, прибывший к Международной космической станции (МСК) 24 мая, отстыковался от станции, трансляцию ведет НАСА.

Грузовой корабль был отстыкован от станции в 15.37 мск при помощи механического манипулятора Canadarm2.
Как сообщили в НАСА, Cygnus будет оставаться на орбите около двух недель для проведения различных экспериментов. Он сойдет с орбиты 30 июля и затем сгорит в верхних слоях атмосферы Земли над Тихим океаном.
...

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https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grummans-cygnus-spacecraft-begins-secondary-mission-in-space

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus Spacecraft Begins Secondary Mission in Space

"S.S. J.R. Thompson" departs International Space Station and successfully completes international space station reboost
July 15, 2018

DULLES, Va. – July 15, 2018 –Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced that its Cygnus™ spacecraft, following a highly successful stay at the International Space Station, has departed from the station to begin the next phase of its mission. While docked with the station, Cygnus performed a reboost experiment for the International Space Station demonstrating the spacecraft's capability to raise the orbiting laboratory's orbit. The "S.S. J.R. Thompson" is now set to deploy six CubeSats in orbit before reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. This mission marks the fifth time that Cygnus has been used for NanoRacks CubeSat deployments during its secondary payload mission phase.


From May 24, 2018 when the CRS-9 "S.S. J.R. Thompson" Cygnus arrived at the International Space Station and delivered approximately 7,400 pounds of cargo to astronauts on board. The spacecraft successfully departed from the station on July 15. 

Cygnus departed from the International Space Station at 8:37 a.m. ET. Five days before departure, the space station reoriented itself and Cygnus fired its thrusters for the International Space Station reboost demonstration, making Cygnus the first American spacecraft to reboost the station since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet seven years ago. The spacecraft spent 52 days at the station before leaving with more than 6,600 pounds (over 3,000 kilograms) of disposable cargo, a new record for Cygnus.

"This mission once again demonstrates the expanded capabilities for Cygnus and paves the way for future mission objectives," said Frank Culbertson, president, space systems group, Northrop Grumman. "Cygnus performed extremely well during the International Space Station orbit raising experiment, and now the next phase of our extended orbital mission is ready to begin with the deployment of six CubeSats."

The mission began May 21 when Cygnus launched aboard a Northrop Grumman Antares™ rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Upon arrival at the orbiting laboratory, Cygnus delivered approximately 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of cargo and science experiments to the astronauts, marking the company's ninth operational mission to the International Space Station.

Following unberthing, the "S.S. J.R. Thompson" will raise its orbit above the International Space Station and use a NanoRacks CubeSat deployer to release six CubeSats into orbit. Four of the CubeSats will join Spire Global's commercial weather satellite constellation for global ship and weather tracking. The NanoRacks manifest also includes the AeroCube 12A and 12B satellites. These two CubeSats come from the Aerospace Corporation and test new star tracker imagers and high-efficiency solar panels.

The mission is expected to end July 30 when Cygnus will execute a safe, destructive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Stay informed with real-time updates on the science experiments aboard Cygnus through Northrop Grumman's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/northropgrumman.

Спойлер

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

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Cygnus OA-9 Departs the International Space Station

Space Videos

Опубликовано: 15 июл. 2018 г.

(10:56)

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Northrop Grumman CRS-9 Cygnus unberthing time-lapse

SciNews

Опубликовано: 15 июл. 2018 г.

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus CRS-9 cargo spacecraft was unberthed from the International Space Station's Earth-facing port of the Unity module by the robotic Canadarm2. The entire operation lasted approximately one hour and was performed by ground controllers on 15 July 2018.

(1:58 )

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Официоз

Astronauts Release U.S. Spacecraft Completing Cargo Mission

NASA Video

Опубликовано: 15 июл. 2018 г.
1 час назад

(0:51)

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Запись трансляции НАСА

NorthropGrummanCygnus OA9 Release July15 2018 1215 677546

NASA Video

Опубликовано: 15 июл. 2018 г.
10 минут назад

(50:55)

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 2 мин. назад

Per OA-9E Cygnus. Orbit will now be ABOVE the ISS for CubeSat releases. Four Spire Global's commercial weather satellite constellation. Also AeroCube 12A and 12B satellites from the Aerospace Corporation and test new star tracker imagers and high-efficiency solar panels.

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/07/15/cygnus-cargo-ship-released-from-space-station-heads-for-extended-mission/

Cygnus cargo ship released fr om space station, heads for extended mission
July 15, 2018 | Stephen Clark


The Cygnus supply ship flies away from the International Space Station after release from Canadarm 2 on Sunday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Closing out 52 days at the International Space Station, an automated Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft left the research outpost Sunday to climb into a higher orbit for deployment of six CubeSats and further engineering experiments, before de-orbiting over Pacific Ocean later this month.

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, at the controls of the station's Canadian-built robotic arm, sent the command to release the Cygnus spacecraft a few hours after the supply ship was removed from a berthing port on the station's Harmony module.

Snares on the robot arm's hand opened and released the Cygnus spacecraft at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT) Sunday, while the space station soared 253 miles (407 kilometers) over southeastern Colombia.

The Cygnus supply ship completed a departure burn moments later, and cameras aboard the station showed the visiting cargo freighter — now loaded with trash — flying away from the research complex, backdropped with brilliant views of planet Earth.

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"It was really cool watching Cygnus depart," astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor radioed from the space station. "(It's) almost a little surreal to watch a cargo vehicle like that depart the station, and to see it from a distance. And just think, this was a normal day at the office."


The Cygnus spacecraft was released from the space station's robot arm at 8:37 a.m. EDT (1237 GMT). A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule is seen attached to the station, wh ere it has been parked since arriving July 2. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

The flight plan called for the Cygnus spacecraft to climb into a higher orbit later Sunday, setting the stage for the release of six CubeSats for Spire Global and Aerospace Corp. The six CubeSats, each around the size of a shoebox, will deploy in pairs from a NanoRacks carrier module mounted on the Cygnus spacecraft over the course of several hours late Sunday and early Monday.

The CubeSats include four "Lemur-2" payloads for San Francisco-based 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.

The launch and deployment of the Lemur-2 and AeroCube nanosatellites was arranged through Houston-based NanoRacks, which provided the CubeSat carrier module on the Cygnus spacecraft.

Following the CubeSat deployments, ground controllers at Northrop Grumman's Cygnus control center in Dulles, Virginia, will put the spacecraft through additional testing over the next two weeks, then uplink commands for the supply ship to fire its engine and drop out of orbit July 30.

The station crew packed around 6,600 pounds (3,000 kilograms) of trash into the Cygnus spacecraft's Italian-built cargo compartment for disposal during the ship's destructive re-entry late this month.

The Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the station May 24 — three days after launching on an Antares rocket from Virginia — and delivered 7,205 pounds (3,268 kilograms) provisions, experiments and other hardware. Astronauts unloaded the cargo and replaced it with garbage tagged for disposal.

The items carried to the station by the Cygnus spacecraft included NASA's Cold Atom Laboratory, a quantum physics experiment to explore the nature of ultra-cold matter, probing the behavior of atoms chilled to extreme temperatures colder than the vacuum of space.

The Cygnus spacecraft, named the S.S. J.R. Thompson after a former NASA deputy administrator and Orbital ATK executive, also delivered nine other CubeSats that were transferred into the station for deployment through the Japanese airlock.

Another first for the Cygnus cargo mission was a test of the supply ship's reboost capability Tuesday. The Cygnus cargo freighter became the first U.S. spacecraft to raise the station's altitude since the retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet in 2011.

The Cygnus only raised the station's altitude by around 295 feet (90 meters) during a 50-second firing of the ship's main engine, but future maneuvers could employ longer burns for more significant reboosts.

Russian Progress cargo freighters, and the propulsion system on the space station's Russian Zvezda service module, have conducted nearly all of the research lab's orbital maneuvers since the end of the space shuttle program, with the exception of a few reboosts by the European Space Agency's now-retired Automated Transfer Vehicle. Russian mission controllers typically plan several reboost maneuvers per year to counteract the effects of atmospheric drag, which gradually pulls the space station closer to Earth.

NASA plans to use future Cygnus missions for additional orbit-raising burns. There are no plans to use SpaceX's Dragon capsules for reboosts because the Cygnus propulsion system is better-suited for the job, according to Kirk Shireman, NASA's space station program manager.

The Cygnus spacecraft received a new corporate owner while berthed at the International Space Station, thanks to Northrop Grumman's acquisition of Orbital ATK in June.

NASA has multibillion-dollar contracts with Northrop Grumman and SpaceX for station resupply flights. The Cygnus mission concluding this month is the ninth operational cargo mission conducted by Northrop Grumman under a contract valued at $2.89 billion, according to the NASA's inspector general.

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Northrop Grumman's next Cygnus mission to the space station is scheduled for liftoff in November, again aboard an Antares booster launched from Wallops Island, Virginia.

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NanoRacks‏Подлинная учетная запись @NanoRacks 14 мин. назад

More #Lemurs are in orbit, deployed last night from #Cygnus. Congratulations to @SpireGlobal on your newest fleet of #CubeSats!

Твит удалён с ленты, взамен выпущен новый

NanoRacks‏Подлинная учетная запись @NanoRacks 6 мин. назад

We welcome the newest #LEMURs to orbit! Congratulations @SpireGlobal - always a pleasure teaming with you to grow the Spire #CubeSat constellation.

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Spire‏ @SpireGlobal 4 ч. назад

For those keeping score at home, the new satellite names are: LEMUR2-TOMHENDERSON, LEMUR2-YUASA, LEMUR2-ALEXANDER, and LEMUR2-VU

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Alexander Gerst‏Подлинная учетная запись @Astro_Alex 4 ч. назад

A last orbit past the Southern Aurora. We undocked and released the Cygnus cargo space ship with the #ISS robotic arm yesterday, about to complete a flawless science & cargo mission. #Horizons

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Космонавт Олег Артемьев
три часа назад

Вчера американский грузовой корабль Cygnus покинул космическую станцию.

Отстыковка произошла с помощью манипулятора Canadarm2. На одной из фотографий мы с Дрю представили себя на рабочем места манипулятора, но на самом деле корабль отстыковывали Алекс и Серина.


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https://pp.userapi.com/c845416/v845416156/9fe00/l1sLCB284S4.jpg

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Spire‏ @SpireGlobal 3 ч. назад

Today, we welcomed our first four ADS-B (plane tracking) enabled satellites to orbit! Thanks to everyone @NanoRacks @OrbitalATK #Cygnus @Space_Station for the support.

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http://nanoracks.com/fifth-external-cygnus-deployment/

NanoRacks Completes Fifth External Cygnus Deployment, Six More CubeSats in Orbit

July 16, 2018



Dulles, Virginia July 16, 2018 –Yesterday evening, NanoRacks successfully deployed six CubeSats from the Company's CubeSat deployer mounted on the outside of the Cygnus spacecraft. This brings the overall count to 223 small satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit.

The ninth contracted resupply mission from Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) launched on May 21, 2018, carrying NanoRacks' fifth mission providing opportunities for CubeSat deployment from Cygnus after the vehicle departs from the International Space Station. Prior to launch, the NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer is installed on the exterior of the Cygnus service module with the capability to deploy satellites after the spacecraft completes its primary space station commercial resupply mission.

The Cygnus spacecraft was raised to over 480 kilometers after departing the International Space Station before the CubeSats were released.

NanoRacks deployed the following satellites:

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• Lemurs (4 Satellites) – Spire Global, Inc.
• AeroCube 12A – Aerospace Corporation
• AeroCube 12B – Aerospace Corporation
  

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"This mission truly builds on NanoRacks vision of repurposing in-space hardware," says NanoRacks Chief Technology Officer, Mike Lewis. "This Cygnus spacecraft carried out a primary mission to the Space Station, re-boosted the Station, and then deployed numerous small satellites from a diverse group of customers. We're proud to remain a key player in these mission-extending operations while simultaneously providing reliable opportunities for the satellite community.

Last week, NanoRacks completed the Company's 14th CubeSat deployment mission from the International Space Station.

NanoRacks would like to thank Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems and the NASA International Space Station Program Office for their continued support of NanoRacks satellite deployment programs.

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Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 3 мин. назад

Latest TLEs for the SS J.R. Thompson cargo ship show it in the higher 477 x 482 km orbit where it deployed the Lemurs and Aerocubes. No TLEs for any of the recent cubesat deploys yet

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Отстыковка американского грузового корабля Cygnus. 15.07.18

Oleg A

Опубликовано: 16 июл. 2018 г.

(2:30)

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https://spire.com/company/insights/news/spires-first-4-ads-b-equipped-satellites-enter-orb/

Spire's First 4 ADS-B Equipped Satellites Enter Orbit

JULY 16 2018

Today was an important day for Spire and for the aviation industry as 4 new LEMUR2 satellites entered orbit carrying Spire's new AirSafe payload alongside their usual suite of ship and weather tracking sensors. They begin the process of adding complete global plane tracking coverage to our constellation of nanosatellites.

Aircraft tracking is a critical need globally. Ground-based tracking only goes so far and the expense of operating ground sites in remote locations is often so cost prohibitive that no one wants to be the company that does it. By putting aircraft tracking onto Spire satellites, we will alleviate those concerns and fill the large gaps in coverage.

These satellites mark the 78th through 81st LEMUR2 satellites to reach orbit (bringing our current total in orbit to 61). Spire's satellites are launched in Low Earth Orbit where they experience short (under 5 year) lifespans. By launching and replacing satellites often, Spire is consistently increasing the capability of the constellation. Today's deployment is a great example of how this strategy can bring entirely new technologies to orbit quickly.

Like any LEMUR2 satellites, these four will be put through a battery of tests. Once passed, they will enter production mode where they produce data for all of Spire's products – including Spire AirSafe.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2018/07/16/iss-daily-summary-report-7162018/

ISS Daily Summary Report – 7/16/2018

Cygnus Unberth:
On Saturday, the crew completed the Node1 vestibule depressurization and started the associated vestibule leak checks. On Sunday, once the crew completed leak check activities, robotics ground controllers used the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) to uninstall the Cygnus vehicle from the ISS at 5:04am CDT. At 7:36am CDT, the crew released Cygnus and monitored its departure. Cygnus will free-fly for 15 days prior to re-entry and will deploy external NanoRacks satellites above and behind ISS during that time. ...

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Northrop Grumman‏Подлинная учетная запись @northropgrumman 18 мин. назад

We are excited to announce that all six cubesats have successfully been deployed from our CRS-9 #Cygnus! The spacecraft will remain in orbit for another 2 weeks. #NorthropGrumman

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1019243077981130752/vid/532x360/ZExXtCbXSrcz-61l.mp4?tag=3
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