NASA sends more sciences, technological demonstrations and crew supplies to the international space station after the successful launch of the mission of Northrop Grumman Commercial Repaply Services of the Agency, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23.
The company’s CYGNUS XL spacecraft, transporting more than 11,000 pounds from cargo to the orbit laboratory, took off at 6:11 p.m. Spacex Falcon 9 spacex rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 with Cape Canaveral Space Force in Florida. This mission is the first flight of the larger and more compatible version of cargo from the solar space vessel.
Cygnus XL should be captured at 6:35 am on Wednesday, September 17 by the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will operate with the help of the NASA Cardman astronaut. After the capture, the spaceship will be installed on the port oriented on the land of the Unity module for the unloading of the cargo.
The replenishment mission carries dozens of research experiences that will be carried out during shipping 73, including materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space and equipment to develop improvements in cryogenic fuel tanks. The spacecraft will also provide a specialized UV lighting system to prevent the growth of microbes communities that are formed in water systems and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.
These are only a sample of the hundreds of scientific investigations carried out on board the station in the fields of biology and biotechnology, earth and space sciences, physical sciences, as well as development and technological demonstrations. For almost 25 years, NASA has supported an American human presence has continued on board the orbit laboratory, where astronauts have learned to live and work in space for long periods. The space station is a springboard to develop an economy of the low land and the next big jumps of NASA in exploration, including the missions of Artemis to the Moon and the missions of American astronaut in Mars.
The coverage of the arrival, capture and installation of NASA is as follows (whenever east and subject to change according to real -time operations):
Wednesday September 17
5 a.m. – The arrival coverage begins on NASA +, Amazon Prime and more.
6 h 35 – Cygnus XL capture with the robotic arm of the space station.
8 a.m. – The installation cover begins on NASA +, Amazon Prime and more.
All coverage times are estimates and could be adjusted according to operations after launch. Follow the blog of the space station for the most up -to -date information.
Cygnus XL should stay in the laboratory in orbit until March 2026, before it leaves and eliminates several thousand pounds of waste by its return to the atmosphere of the earth, where it will burn safely. The spacecraft is named SS William “Willie” C. McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut which perished in 2003 during the accident of the Columbia space shuttle.
Find out more about this NASA commercial replenishment mission to:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-nate
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Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
321-876-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
Sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov
