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Cygnus spacecraft lifts off in maiden voyage for NASA to International Space Station
Originally published on September 19, 2013 An unmanned Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus cargo spacecraft launched from NASA #39;s Wallops Flight Facility in Virg...

By: TomoNews US

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Cygnus spacecraft lifts off in maiden voyage for NASA to International Space Station - Video

Can you compost in space? How do you protect astronauts from ultraviolet rays? And will natural food preservatives work as well for space settlers as they do on Earth?

This semester, hundreds of Northland Preparatory Academy students are finding out what it takes to propose untested ideas and do cutting-edge science in orbit. Its a competition pitting 100 groups at NPA against each other in a test of real-world science skills.

And one group of sixth- through 12th-grade students will be rewarded with a spot for their experiment on board the International Space Station.

But seventh-grade general science teacher Susan Brown says the lessons stretch far beyond the realm of space science. During research, the students develop critical reading skills and learn to write persuasively while preparing proposals.

Theyre not just learning the scientific method, theyre learning how to write well and communicate, Brown said. Theyre acting like real scientists because, in fact, one of them is going up to space.

Theres a lot of reading and writing that goes into a real-world science career, said NPA science teacher and competition organizer Kaci Heins. Its not just blowing stuff up.

RAISED $21,500

The project came about after Heins learned of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program from a friend whose class flew an experiment on the Space Shuttle. The program, hosted by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, drew headlines earlier this month with an 11-year-old boys plan to send a tiny brewery into space inside one of their 6-inch tubes.

Heins has already played a role in having NPA students speak to astronauts on the ISS via ham radio. And NPA has also sent low-gravity experiments to near-space on high-altitude balloons. But to have astronauts actually carry out a student experiment is truly rare.

The opportunity might not seem out of the ordinary in Flagstaff, the worlds first STEM city (for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). But it is unusual for students in a small-city school to send experiments to space. Most of the participants typically come from places like New York City and Houston.

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Space race: Hundreds of NPA students compete to have an experiment aboard space station

Orbital Sciences Corp.s Cygnus cargo capsule left the International Space Station on Tuesday, wrapping up a successful test flight that clears the company to begin making regular resupply runs for NASA beginning in December.

PHOTOS: Astronaut Guide: How to Train Your Dragon

Cygnus is the second commercial freighter, developed in partnership in NASA, to reach the space station, which had been dependent on cargo ships built and operated by partners Russia, Europe and Japan to keep the station stocked following the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.

Space Exploration Technologies, which started work for NASA about 18 months before Orbital Sciences, made a test flight to the station in May 2012 and so far has completed two of 12 planned resupply missions.

Cygnus, which unlike SpaceXs Dragon capsule does not return to Earth, is expected to fire its braking rocket on Wednesday to lower its orbit and allow itself to be dragged back into the planets atmosphere for incineration.

NEWS: Orbitals Cygnus Capsule Reaches Space Station

The capsule was loaded up with garbage and items no longer needed aboard the station before its release at 7:31 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

We are delighted to now have two American companies able to resupply the station, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

Orbitals success today is helping make NASAs future exploration to farther destinations possible, he added.

ANALYSIS: When Antares Delivered its Payload to Orbit

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Orbital Sciences' Cygnus Capsule Leaves Space Station

The first privately built Cygnus cargo ship to visit the International Space Station detached from the orbiting lab Tuesday (Oct. 22) and is poised to destroy itself in Earth's atmosphere in a fiery finale to its successful test flight.

The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., was released by astronauts using the station's robotic arm at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT) as both space vehicles sailed high above the Atlantic Ocean, east of Argentina. The spacecraft is expected to fire its rocket thrusters Wednesday (Oct. 23) to leave orbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

On the space station, astronauts and cosmonauts bid farewell to the visiting cargo ship. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano of Italy thanked Orbital and Cygnus ground control teams, adding that it was a honor to watch over the spacecraft's first test flight. [See photos from Orbital Sciences' 1st Cygnus test flight]

"It was a real pleasure to work both with Cygnus and all the people on the ground," Parmitano radioed NASA's Mission Control in Houston.

Cygnus test flight success

The departure of Cygnus caps a successful test flight of the new spacecraft by Orbital and sets the stage for the first official cargo delivery to the space station in December. Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the space station with at least eight Cygnus spacecraft.

The next Cygnus spacecraft is expected to launch to the space station in December to fly Orbital's first official cargo delivery mission for NASA.

This first Cygnus launched toward the space station on Sept. 18 atop an Orbital-built Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The spacecraft arrived at the station on Sept. 29, about seven days later than planned due to a software glitch and the launch of a new crew to the orbiting lab on Sept. 25.

Orbital's disposable Cygnus spacecraft are silver cylinders about 17 feet (5 meters) long that are built for the company by Thales Alenia Space in Italy. Cygnus is powered by an Orbital-built service module containing two solar wings for power, as well as rocket thrusters. Each Cygnus is capable of carrying up to 4,409 pounds (2,000 kg) of supplies, though the first test vehicle was packed with only 1,543 pounds (700 kilograms) of supplies and gear, Orbital officials said.

Commercial spaceflight's giant leap

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Cygnus spacecraft leaves International Space Station, will burn up in atmosphere