Category Archives: Space Station

Earlier today, China took a huge step forward in their quest for a continual human presence in space: they launched Tianzhou-1, an unmanned resupply ship that will dock with their space station, Tiangong-2. Id also like to add that I predicted this would happen back in 2012, when I claimed that their first space station, Tiangong-1, was actually a prototype of a resupply ship. I think I was right!

If youll forgive me, I just want to revel in this sadly rare moment of accuracy with this quote from my 2012 article about Tiangong-1:

So, in a nutshell, heres what the Chinese are doing: theyve outfitted what will become a future cargo vessel with a life support system and supplies, allowing their Shenzou crew to practice orbital docking, some limited space station living, test life support and propulsion systems for both future space stations and on their future station-supporting cargo ship all in one efficient mission. When they build Tiangong 2, theyll already have some experience and a resupply ship. Its pretty clever.

Holy crap, thats pretty much exactly how things have turned out: Tianzhou-1 (the name means heavenly vessel, like the free water bottle youll get when you enter the afterlife) is based directly on the original Tiangong-1 space station, and its now being used to resupply Tiangong-2. Im sure plenty of other observers figured this as well, but just let me have this tiny victory, please.

Really, though, what I think doesnt matter a bit. Whats important here is that an automatic-docking resupply ship is absolutely crucial to long-term habitation in space. The Tianzhou series is basically filling the same role as the Soviet/Russian Progress resupply ships, which have been in continuous use since they resupplied the Salyut 6 space station in 1978, and continue to bring cargo and fuel to the ISS to this day.

Tianzhou-1 is based on Chinas crewed spacecraft, Shenzhou, which is in turn effectively a modernized and enlarged Soviet/Russian Soyuz design. Theres a service module providing propulsion, fuel, and electricity via solar panels, and a cylindrical cargo module, which has a pressurized section and can have an unpressurized section as well, usually with fuel tanks to refuel the orbiting station.

This mission will mostly focus on having Tianzhou-1 dock, transfer fuel, and undock from Tiangong-2, multiple times. The main goals of the mission will be to test the automatic docking and refueling procedures.

Its not clear if Tiangzhou-1 has any cargo in its pressurized compartment that will be used on the space station by later Taikonauts when they return to Tiangong-2. Personally, Im skeptical it has any actual cargo, because Im not certain theres any way to transfer that cargo to the station.

In fact, I think that with the current setup of Tiangong-2, there is no way at all to transfer cargo, because Tiangong-2 has only one docking port. The Soviets didnt launch any unmanned cargo ships to their space stations until they had a station with multiple docking ports, Salyut 6, which had two, one at each end.

With at least two ports, one can have a crewed ship docked, leaving the other free for a cargo craft. When the cargo craft is docked, the crew can unload the supplies and equipment from the pressurized cargo compartment. Theres no way to do that now with Tiangong-2, unless they were to leave some poor, lonely sap in the station without a Shenzou return spaceship, which Im pretty sure theyd never do.

So, if I may undertake a new prediction here: this may be the only time well see a Tianzhou cargo ship dock with Tiangong-2. The cargo ships will be used much more extensively when the Chinese launch Tiangong-3 in 2022 or so, which will be a space station module very similar to the old Soviet/Russian Mir core module, and will contain multiple docking ports.

Once that happens, well have two continuously-occupied space stations in Earth orbit, and thats when things should get really fun.

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China Launches Their First Robotic Space Station Resupply Ship - Jalopnik

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasted off Thursday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP hide caption

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasted off Thursday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

In case you ever find yourself hurtling into space, know this: When the little stuffed dog starts to float, that's when you've reached Earth's orbit.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin lifted off from Kazakhstan on Thursday, bound for the International Space Station. About nine minutes into their voyage, the stuffed dog leaped into the air, then began to drift at the end of the string around its neck. (The dog is the latest in an adorable tradition of stuffed animals in space.)

There was a rare extra seat in the Soyuz capsule; Reuters reports that Russia is scaling back its space station staffing as it prepares to prepares to send a laboratory to the ISS next year.

It's the fifth mission to the space station for Yurchikhin, but the first for Fischer, who he says there is one aspect of space station life that you can't train for on Earth: using a zero-gravity toilet.

"It's all about suction, it's really difficult," Fischer said in a NASA interview before launch. "You just can't train for that on the ground, so I approach my space-toilet activities with respect, preparation and a healthy dose of sheer terror."

Just six hours after launch, the pair docked at the space station. They were welcomed by Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Russia and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, as well as Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson of NASA, who on Monday will break the record for longest time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut. She's due to return to Earth in September.

On Saturday, NASA will livestream video of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft rendezvous and capture at the International Space Station. The cargo craft took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Tuesday.

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Astronaut, Cosmonaut And Stuffed Dog Arrive At International Space Station - NPR

NASA's live feed of the International Space Station (ISS) captured a mysterious object, which UFO experts claim is an alien cylinder that goes transparent.

The odd shape was spotted in a black space behind the ISS by space fans watching the live feed.

And experts said the cylinder - which they claim was a UFO - was 'partially transparent', which may be a technique used to keep the craft safe so that it is not seen.

UFO expert Scott C Waring, shared the footage and said: "I noticed a UFO in the distance that was coming closer and closer to the space station. The UFO was partially cloaked, which made it look transparent."

Mr Waring runs the website UFO Sightings Daily ,

He added: "In the deep blackness of spaces, blending into the environment means you will be safer from other alien species that may not be friendly."

It is not the first time objects have been spotted on the ISS feed without explanation.

In February, six large orbs were seen apparently creeping past the ISS in NASA footage.

In the live video, relayed by the American space agency, the UFOs move from the right of the screen towards the left. After they were seen conspiracy theorists claimed the live feed was cut.

Last year it was also suggested that a "nervous" astronaut was telling ground control about the appearance of a strange red-coloured UFO on the live NASA feed.

They claim he said the word "gospel" when the object appeared, and suggested this may have been a codeword as ground control replied "we pray for you."

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Mysterious 'Alien' cylinder on NASA live feed for International Space Station spotted by space experts - Mirror.co.uk

April 20, 2017 by Jenny Howard The Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA) hardware being installed by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson during Expedition 5. The SUBSA Furnace and Inserts investigation includes modernized data acquisition, high definition video and communication interfaces. Credit: NASA

Research into crystal growth in microgravity was one of the earliest investigations conducted aboard the International Space Station and is continued to this day. The unique microgravity environment of space provides an ideal setting for producing crystals that are more perfect than their terrestrial-grown counterparts. The Crystal Growth of Cs2LiYCl6:Ce Scintillators in Microgravity (CLYC-Crystal Growth), a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)-sponsored investigation, will study the potential benefits of growing the CYLC crystal in microgravity.

The CLYC crystal is a special kind of multicomponent crystal system used to make scintillator radiation detectors, a device that is sensitive to both gamma rays and neutrons.

"It's a spectroscopic crystal, which means, using this crystal, we can detect the presence and intensity of radiation, as well as identify which isotopes emit radiation by measuring the energy," said Dr. Alexei Churilov, primary investigator and senior scientist at Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc. (RMD).

The CLYC crystal is produced as a commercial product by RMD and is largely used to detect and differentiate both harmful and harmless levels of radiation. The crystal's main application is homeland security as a method of detected smuggled nuclear materials, but may also be used for oil and gas exploration, medical imaging, particle and space physics and scientific instruments.

However, the Earth-grown crystals have shown defects such as cracks, grain boundaries and inclusions, incidents which scientists like Churilov hope to eliminate by using the space station's microgravity environment as a growth habitat.

Research has shown that many, though not all, crystals benefit from growth in microgravity. Although the reasoning behind this phenomena is still being investigated, research points to the lack of buoyancy-induced convection, which affects transport of molecules in the crystal.

"Our ultimate goal is to study the growth of CLYC in microgravity without the interference of convection and to improve the production of the crystal on Earth," said Churilov.

The research for the CLYC Crystal Growth investigation will be conducted within the Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules Furnaces and Inserts (SUBSA Furnaces and Inserts). SUBSA helps researchers advance the understanding of processes involved in semiconductor crystal growth. It offers a gradient freeze furnace for materials science investigations. SUBSA was originally operated aboard the space station in 2002, the SUBSA hardware has been modernized and updated with data acquisition, high resolution video and communication interfaces.

During the investigation, four crystal growth runs will be conducted aboard the space station and then in the ground-based SUBSA furnaces, giving researchers a view into the gravitational effect on their growth. Once the investigation is complete, the space-grown crystals will be compared against their counterparts on Earth and tested for imperfections and effectiveness as radiation detectors.

Although microgravity can't be mimicked or reproduced on the ground, results from the investigation will provide information about which crystal methods to use on Earth, how to improve ampoule and furnace design and which crystal growth parameters to change in pursuit of a more perfect crystallization process.

Though the total weight of the CLYC Crystal Growth investigation is small, only a few kilograms together with packaging, the benefits can be immense as the data gathered during the investigation will be put to immediate use in the production of CLYC crystals.

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An experiment led by the University of Colorado Boulder arrived at the International Space Station today and will look into the fluid dynamics of liquid crystals that may lead to benefits both on Earth and in space.

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Crystals grown aboard space station provide radiation detecting ... - Phys.Org

A workhorse Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday and boosted an Orbital ATK cargo ship into space carrying more than 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and research hardware bound for the International Space Station.

Running a month late because of hydraulic problems and scheduling conflicts, the boosters Russian-built RD-180 main engine thundered to life at 11:11 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), throttled up to full thrust and quickly pushed the United Launch Alliance rocket away from complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The International Space Station passed to the east of Cape Canaveral a few minutes before launch and the Atlas 5 took off almost directly into the plane of the labs orbit, a requirement for spacecraft trying to rendezvous with a target moving through space at some five miles per second.

Initially flying straight up, the 191-foot-tall Atlas 5 quickly arced away to the northeast, climbing out of the thick lower atmosphere atop the RD-180s 860,200 pounds of thrust. A little more than a minute later, the rocket was traveling faster than sound, rapidly shedding weight and accelerating as it consumed it load of first stage propellants.

Passing through 10,000 mph, the first stage engine shut down as planned four minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff and the spent stage fell away.

A camera on the rockets Centaur second stage captures the Atlas 5s first stage falling back to Earth moments after separation.

NASA

The hydrogen-fueled Aerojet Rocketdyne engine powering the Centaur second stage then flashed to life and burned for nearly 14 minutes to complete the climb to a 142-mile-high roughly circular orbit tilted 51.6 degrees to the equator, the same as the space stations.

Three minutes later, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship, named in honor of John Glenn, the first American in orbit, was released from the Centaur to fly on its own.

We are very proud of that fact, that this spacecraft is named after my former fellow astronaut John Glenn, a real pioneer in the space world who launched for the first time out of here on an Atlas rocket, said Frank Culbertson, a former shuttle commander who manages Orbitals Space Systems Group. Its a great tribute to John to be able to take his name to orbit once again.

A bit more than two hours after launch, the Cygnus, also known as the SS John Glenn, deployed its two solar arrays and engineers reported the spacecraft was healthy and ready to begin a four-day rendezvous.

Status of the spacecraft is great, everything is working well, Culbertson said. Weve got the prop system pressurized, the power system is up, we deployed the solar arrays. ... The team is in control, and we are beginning our approach to the space station.

It was Orbitals seventh operational resupply launch under an initial $1.9 billion contract from NASA calling for eight flights through 2016. NASA later bought three additional flights and Orbital won a second contract for at least six more missions through 2024.

SpaceX holds similar resupply contracts using its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ships.

Orbital ATK normally launches Cygnus cargo ships atop its own Antares rocket, but in the wake of a 2014 launch failure, the company bought two Atlas 5s from ULA to launch two resupply missions while the Antares was being equipped with new engines.

The redesigned booster successfully flew last October, but Orbital bought a third more powerful -- and expensive -- Atlas 5 to help NASA get additional supplies to the station faster than would otherwise be possible.

Resupply spacecraft typically rendezvous with the station over two to three days, but the Cygnus, launched into an orbit more than 100 miles below its 250-mile-high target, will loiter in orbit until Saturday morning, staying well away from the space lab until after the arrival of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Thursday morning.

The Soyuz MS-04/50S spacecraft, carrying vehicle commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Jack Fischer, is being readied for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. EDT Thursday. Docking at the stations upper Poisk module is expected around 9:23 a.m. that same morning.

Yurchikhin and Fischer will join Expedition 50 commander Peggy Whitson, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Soyuz MS-03 commander Oleg Novitskiy.

Assuming the Soyuz docks on schedule, the Cygnus spacecraft will make its own approach to the space station early Saturday, pulling up to within about 30 feet just after 6 a.m. and then standing by while Whitson and Pesquet, operating the stations robot arm, lock onto a grapple fixture.

At that point, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will take over to pull the Cygnus in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the central Unity module.

The cargo ship is loaded with some 7,625 pounds of cargo and equipment, including more than 2,000 pounds of science gear, 2,100 pounds of crew supplies and nearly 2,700 pounds of vehicle hardware. Also on board: 160 pounds of spacewalk equipment, about 40 pounds of Russian hardware and 38 small research satellites.

Thirty four of those Cubesats will be launched from the space station while four will be deployed from the Cygnus.

We have a wide range of support equipment thats going to be headed to station to support the science thats up there already but also to introduce some brand new capabilities and some exciting new research to the station, said Tara Ruttley, space station associate program scientist at the Johnson Space Center.

Among the cargo is an advanced plant habitat, the largest production facility for plants ever on the space station, Ruttley said. Its going to be able to grow larger plants, and larger plants lead to things like food production kind of crops.

In the near term, scientists will evaluate how well the plant facility operates with its ability to control lighting, humidity, temperature, water flow and a wide variety of other factors.

Eventually, as we understand how this habitat functions, Id imagine we will evolve into crops and edible foods, Ruttley said.

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Commercial cargo ship launched to space station - CBS News

By Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL John Glenn's trailblazing legacy took flight Tuesday as a cargo ship bearing his name rocketed toward the International Space Station.

An Atlas rocket provided the late morning lift to orbit, just as it did for Glenn 55 years ago.

The commercial cargo ship, dubbed the S.S. John Glenn, holds nearly 7,700 pounds of food, equipment and research for the space station. It's due there Saturday, two days after the arrival of two fresh astronauts.

NASA's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's widow, Annie, for permission to use his name for the spacecraft, following his December death.

Glenn, an original Mercury 7 astronaut, became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He launched again in 1998 aboard shuttle Discovery at age 77, the oldest person ever in space. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery two weeks ago.

"It is clearly a chance one more time to show John Glenn's name emblazoned in space," said Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut who now heads Orbital ATK's space systems group.

Glenn was a courageous, pioneering leader who always promoted space and set a good example, Culbertson noted. "And I hope that putting his name on the space station is an inspiration to the next generation to aspire to do similar things, push the boundaries," he said.

Besides supplies, the capsule contains a banner showing Glenn in his orange space shuttle launch suit it's the first thing the station astronauts will see when they open the craft as well as memorabilia for his family. Because the launch was delayed a month by hydraulic problems at the pad and on the rocket, no Glenn family members were able to make it to Cape Canaveral, according to Culbertson.

Orbital ATK one of NASA's prime delivery services for the space station, along with SpaceX normally uses its own Virginia-based Antares rockets to launch its Cygnus cargo ships, named after the swan constellation. But it opted for the United Launch Alliance's bigger Atlas V rocket in order to carry up a heftier load. A new, larger greenhouse is flying up, along with equipment needed for a spacewalk next month.

"Looks like we nailed the orbit once again," said Vern Thorp, a manager for the rocket maker.

NASA's 360-degree video streaming of the launch the first such attempt for a live broadcast didn't go as well. Something went wrong moments before liftoff, and the video skipped over the actual rising of the rocket from the pad. NASA said it would try again, perhaps on an upcoming SpaceX delivery mission.

Mission Control beamed up the launch broadcast for the three astronauts at the space station, which is orbiting 250 miles high. The American, Russian and Frenchman will be joined Thursday by another American and Russian who will take off from Kazakhstan.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing new capsules that could fly U.S. astronauts to the space station as early as next year. Boeing's Starliner capsule will fly on the Atlas V.

It was the last launch commentary for NASA spokesman George Diller, who is retiring next month after 37 years. His was the voice at liftoff for the final space shuttle flight, by Atlantis, in 2011, as well as the send-off of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 and all five Hubble-servicing missions hundreds of rocket launches in all.

"We're really, really going to miss hearing your golden voice on console during launch, George," said Kennedy Space Center's director, Robert Cabana, patting him on the back.

Diller said his time at the space agency has been a "heck of a ride."

"I couldn't do better if I'd been riding a rocket."

Online: NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html; Orbital ATK: https://www.orbitalatk.com/

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Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship - News Chief

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. John Glenn's trailblazing legacy took flight Tuesday as a cargo ship bearing his name rocketed toward the International Space Station.

An Atlas rocket provided the late morning lift to orbit, just as it did for Glenn 55 years ago.

The commercial cargo ship, dubbed the S.S. John Glenn, holds nearly 7,700 pounds of food, equipment and research for the space station. It's due there Saturday, two days after the arrival of two fresh astronauts.

NASA's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's widow, Annie, for permission to use his name for the spacecraft, following his December death.

Glenn, an original Mercury 7 astronaut, became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He launched again in 1998 aboard shuttle Discovery at age 77, the oldest person ever in space. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery two weeks ago.

"It is clearly a chance one more time to show John Glenn's name emblazoned in space," said Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut who now heads Orbital ATK's space systems group.

Glenn was a courageous, pioneering leader who always promoted space and set a good example, Culbertson noted. "And I hope that putting his name on the space station is an inspiration to the next generation to aspire to do similar things, push the boundaries," he said.

Besides supplies, the capsule contains a banner showing Glenn in his orange space shuttle launch suit it's the first thing the station astronauts will see when they open the craft as well as memorabilia for his family. Because the launch was delayed a month by hydraulic problems at the pad and on the rocket, no Glenn family members were able to make it to Cape Canaveral, according to Culbertson.

Orbital ATK one of NASA's prime delivery services for the space station, along with SpaceX normally uses its own Virginia-based Antares rockets to launch its Cygnus cargo ships, named after the swan constellation. But it opted for the United Launch Alliance's bigger Atlas V rocket in order to carry up a heftier load. A new, larger greenhouse is flying up, along with equipment needed for a spacewalk next month.

"Looks like we nailed the orbit once again," said Vern Thorp, a manager for the rocket maker.

NASA's 360-degree video streaming of the launch the first such attempt for a live broadcast didn't go as well. Something went wrong moments before liftoff, and the video skipped over the actual rising of the rocket from the pad. NASA said it would try again, perhaps on an upcoming SpaceX delivery mission.

Mission Control beamed up the launch broadcast for the three astronauts at the space station, which is orbiting 250 miles high. The American, Russian and Frenchman will be joined Thursday by another American and Russian who will take off from Kazakhstan.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing new capsules that could fly U.S. astronauts to the space station as early as next year. Boeing's Starliner capsule will fly on the Atlas V.

It was the last launch commentary for NASA spokesman George Diller, who is retiring next month after 37 years. His was the voice at liftoff for the final space shuttle flight, by Atlantis, in 2011, as well as the send-off of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 and all five Hubble-servicing missions hundreds of rocket launches in all.

"We're really, really going to miss hearing your golden voice on console during launch, George," said Kennedy Space Center's director, Robert Cabana, patting him on the back.

Diller said his time at the space agency has been a "heck of a ride."

"I couldn't do better if I'd been riding a rocket."

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John Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship - Northwest Herald

Lafayette's Centaurus High is making its mark in space after the successful launch today of 7,600 pounds of crew supplies and science gear to the International Space Station, which includes an experiment designed and built by the school's engineering students.

The origins of the experiment, which aims to study the effects of simulated gravity on bacterial lag phase in a micro-gravitational environment, date back to the spring of 2014, and roughly 20 Centaurus engineering students have had a hand in bringing it to fruition.

Lag phase is the period when bacteria are adjusting to an environment.

The Orbital ATK Cygnus module launched successfully at 9:11 a.m. MDT today atop an Atlas V rocket and performed well, according to Vern Thorp, United Launch Alliance's program manager for commercial missions.

"It was a beautiful launch," Thorp said in a statement posted to the NASA website. "It looks like we nailed the orbit once again. At this time, it looks like a very good orbit insertion."

The Cygnus module is expected to arrive at the ISS about 4:05 a.m. MDT Saturday as it passes over southern France. The crew will use the complex's robotic arm to grab Cygnus and attach it to the station.

Centaurus has more than one connection to the current ISS missions. Launching from Florida about 1:13 a.m. MDT Thursday will be 1992 Centaurus graduate Jack Fischer, of Louisville, along with crew member Fyodor Yurchikhin, of the Russian Space agency Roscosmos.

Fischer and Yurchikhin will arrive at the ISS well ahead of the cargo module, with an expected docking at the space station of about 7:05 a.m. Colorado time on Thursday, about six hours after liftoff.

Also onboard the launch from Cape Canaveral was a University of Colorado student-built microsatellite named "Challenger." It is part of the European Union sponsored QB50 project to deploy a network of miniaturized satellites to study part of Earth's atmosphere.

The launch was followed via NASA TV today by Centaurus engineering teacher Brian Thomas and about 60 Centaurus engineering students and a half dozen other teachers.

"We're very excited," Thomas said about 90 minutes after liftoff. "We were cheering as it took off. My heart's still beating. I've still got butterflies in my chest from this one. It was really a special thing."

The Centaurus experiment has had a challenging road to fruition, after the first version of the experiment landed in the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the explosion of the SpaceX CRS-7 unmanned resupply mission shortly after liftoff on June 28, 2015. The experiment was rebuilt during the 2015-16 school year - with some modification requested by NASA and readied once again for its date with space.

"The last time it went off, it was two minutes in, before it exploded," Thomas said. "So, even when it launched today, we were still holding our breath a little, until everyone said it was looking good and it's still on its way."

Thomas and his student team hope that at the space station, their experiment will be supervised by Fischer, who is expected to be at the ISS for about five months.

"That's all under NASA's control," Thomas said. "For our experiment, there has to be a swapping of our bacteria samples we have four total sets and we needed an astronaut to do that.

"Jack really wanted to be the one, and I can't imagine any reason why he wouldn't be. Hopefully, that's what he'll be doing, and hopefully he'll snap a selfie that he can send us."

Charlie Brennan: 303-473-1327, brennanc@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/chasbrennan

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Lafayette's Centaurus High has an experiment on way to space ... - Boulder Daily Camera

Belfast Telegraph

John Glenn honoured with launch of space station supply ship Belfast Telegraph The commercial cargo ship, dubbed the SS John Glenn, holds nearly 3,500kg of food, equipment and research for the space station. It is due there on Saturday, two days after the arrival of two fresh astronauts. Nasa's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's ... and more »

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John Glenn honoured with launch of space station supply ship - Belfast Telegraph

An unmanned Orbital ATK cargo ship rocket packed with food and supplies for the astronauts living at the International Space Station blasted off Tuesday from a NASA launch pad.

The barrel-shaped Cygnus spacecraft, nestled atop a white Atlas V rocket, soared into the blue sky over Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:11 am (1511 GMT).

"Liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with Cygnus and the S.S. John Glenn, extending the research legacy for living and working in space," said US space agency commentator George Diller.

The cargo ship was named after John Glenn, the famed astronaut who was the first American to orbit the Earth and who died last year at age 95.

"Cygnus is healthy and both solar arrays are deployed," Orbital ATK said in a statement later in the day.

The mission is the company's seventh as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the orbiting outpost.

SpaceX also has a cargo contract with NASA worth $1.6 billion.

The Cygnus spacecraft is loaded with 7,626 pounds (3,459 kilograms) of crew supplies, hardware and dozens of experiments aimed at studying fire, growing food and cancer therapies.

- Plants and fire -

It contains the Advanced Plant Habitat, which will help astronauts grow food and practice techniques for sustaining themselves on future long duration flights.

The spacecraft is also carrying 38 small satellites called Cube Sats, which will be deployed later on.

The Cygnus should arrive at the station on April 22, after the scheduled docking Thursday of a Russian Soyuz spaceship carrying cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and American astronaut Jack Fischer.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Peggy Whitson of NASA will operate the space station's robotic arm to grab the Cygnus and bring it in to berth at the lab at 6:05 am (1005 GMT) on Saturday, NASA said.

After the astronauts unpack the Cygnus, they will reload it with trash that will burn up along with the spacecraft upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on July 25.

But before its mission comes to a fiery end, Cygnus will spend a couple of hours running an automated experiment to see how a large-scale fire acts in microgravity.

"While in space, after traveling a safe distance from the station, the fire is lit and data is collected before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere," said a statement from NASA.

Known as Saffire-III, the experiment is the third in a series and aims to better understand how fire acts in space in order to safeguard future space missions.

"The experiment lasts about two-and-a-half hours, of which 20 minutes is the actual burn of a fabric panel measuring 0.4 meters (yards) wide by one meter long."

A 360-degree live stream of the launch was broadcast on http://youtube.com/nasatelevision.

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Orbital ATK launches cargo to space station - Space Daily