Replace: August 2, 8:45 a.m. ET: Northrop Grumman efficiently executed its nineteenth resupply mission (NG-19) to the ISS beneath NASA’s Industrial Resupply Companies-2 contract, utilizing the company’s Antares 230+ rocket. The launch automobile blasted off at 8:31 p.m. ET, sending the Cygnus cargo areacraft, named S.S. Laurel Clark, on a journey to the orbital lab.
Unique article follows.
The most recent cargo mission by Northrop Grumman is about for tonight, marking the ultimate flight of this rocket in its present configuration. You possibly can catch the motion dwell proper right here, or when you dwell alongside a lot of the U.S. East Coast, you possibly can merely search for.
Launch of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) is scheduled for Tuesday, August 1, at 8:31 p.m. ET. The mission, generally known as NG-19, is slated to take off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. Climate specialists are predicting an 80% probability of favorable climate for the launch. Because the identify of the mission suggests, this will probably be Northrop Grumman’s nineteenth resupply mission to the ISS.
Dwell protection of the launch will start at 8:00 p.m. ET and will probably be broadcast on NASA’s web site, the NASA app, and on the dwell feed supplied above. Folks dwelling close to the mid-Atlantic area might be able to witness the rocket after liftoff, climate allowing after all. NASA Wallops supplied a map displaying the place and when the Antares rocket is perhaps seen.
For many who are native, the Wallops Customer Middle is scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m. ET. NASA Wallops recommends viewing places on Chincoteague Island, together with Robert Reed Park on Major Road and Seaside Highway, which spans the realm between Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. No matter the place you’re at, you possibly can try tonight’s Sturgeon Moon supermoon as soon as the launch is full.
At present’s launch try is noteworthy because it marks the ultimate flight of this specific model of Antares, as it’s outfitted with Russian and Ukrainian parts, as reported in SpaceNews. Following this, Northrop Grumman, working with Firefly Aerospace will transition to the brand new Antares 330, which is predicted to be launched by summer season 2025. It’s the tip of the road for the Antares 230+, however the Antares 330 will probably be constructed from all-American-built parts, along with that includes a extra highly effective first stage.
Packed on high of Antares is the Cygnus capsule, which is able to carry practically 8,267 kilos (3,750 kilograms) of cargo, together with essential experiments, {hardware}, and provides for the ISS crew. The scheduled launch would see Cygnus arrive on the ISS in the course of the morning of August 4, with NASA’s protection starting at 4:30 a.m. ET. The capsule will keep hooked up to the orbital lab for not less than three months.
NG-19 is the primary Cygnus mission since NG-18 in November 2022, throughout which one photo voltaic array didn’t deploy as a consequence of particles lodging in “one of many Cygnus photo voltaic array mechanisms,” the corporate defined on the time. The capsule nonetheless managed to succeed in the area station, however corrective actions have been applied for NG-19 to hopefully stop a recurrence.
Northrop Grumman has named the Cygnus spacecraft the S.S. Laurel Clark, honoring the late NASA astronaut Laurel Clark, who was a part of NASA’s STS-107 mission and tragically misplaced her life on February 1, 2003, throughout House Shuttle Columbia’s catastrophic reentry into Earth’s environment.
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“It’s the firm’s custom to call every Cygnus spacecraft in honor of a person who has made substantial contributions to human spaceflight,” Northrop Grumman defined on its web site. “Dr. Clark was an completed undersea medical officer and naval flight surgeon previous to her NASA profession.” The corporate beforehand honored Sally Experience, the primary U.S. girl in area.
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