Preparations Underway for Upcoming Cargo Delivery

Preparations Underway for Upcoming Cargo Delivery

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station is stood up vertical on Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Friday, July 28, 2023, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (Northrop Grumman/Thom Baur)
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station is stood up vertical on Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Friday, July 28, 2023, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (Northrop Grumman/Thom Baur)

The Expedition 69 crew is gearing up for a cargo delivery to the International Space Station this week. Health investigations and spacesuit surveys were also conducted today.

NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio spent most of their day preparing for Friday’s capture of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft. The duo completed another robotics practice session of Cygnus berthing and capture in the morning, followed by a practice of grapple procedures in the Cupola using the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, in the afternoon.

Cygnus is targeted to launch tomorrow, Aug. 1 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies and science to the station. On Friday, Aug. 4, Hoburg will capture Cygnus using Canadarm2, and Rubio will act as backup, marking Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply mission.

Near the end of the day, Rubio consolidated food supplies in preparation for Cygnus’s arrival. Meanwhile, Hoburg verified the battery power of jetpacks attached to spacesuits. The jetpacks, also known as SAFERs (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue), provide astronauts the ability to maneuver back to the station in the unlikely event they became untethered during a spacewalk.

UAE (United Arab Emirates) Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi completed orbital plumbing tasks in the morning. He then moved into the Harmony module to prep for Friday’s space freighter capture and ended his day setting up the Berthing Camera System in the Unity module.

NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen conducted Immunity Assay operations, an ongoing investigation that aims to monitor the impact of spaceflight stressors on cellular immune functions.

The three cosmonauts, Commander Sergey Prokopyev and Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin and Andrey Fedyaev, all prepared for an upcoming Russian spacewalk on Aug. 9.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog@space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Abby Graf

NASA Airs Coverage of Space Station Research, Development Conference

NASA Airs Coverage of Space Station Research, Development Conference

NASA will highlight groundbreaking discoveries, benefits for humanity, and how the agency and its commercial and international partners are maximizing research and development aboard the International Space Station at the 12th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

L-48 Forecast: Still 80% Favorable for Antares Launch

L-48 Forecast: Still 80% Favorable for Antares Launch

The Antares rocket stands on its launch pad at night. The rocket is white and the name "Antares" is printed vertically in all caps down the side.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station stands vertical on Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Saturday, July 29, 2023, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 19th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-19 Cygnus spacecraft is named after NASA astronaut Dr. Laurel Clark who flew aboard Columbia STS-107, and is scheduled to launch at 8:31 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Photo Credit: (NASA/Patrick Black)

The Wallops Range 48-hour forecast issued today for the Tuesday, Aug. 1, launch of Northrop Grumman’s 19th resupply mission to the International Space Station continues to keep weather at 80% favorable, with a slight chance of cumulus clouds being the main weather concern. 

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, for the launch.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jamie Adkins

NASA to Host Northrop Grumman CRS-19 Prelaunch Briefing Today

NASA to Host Northrop Grumman CRS-19 Prelaunch Briefing Today

A prelaunch teleconference will be held today, July 30, at 5 p.m. EDT or no earlier than 1 hour following the mission Launch Readiness Review. The teleconference will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website and will highlight launch preparations for Northrop Grumman’s 19th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station to deliver more than 8,200 pounds of research, supplies, and hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Launch is still on schedule for 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1. 

Viewers can submit questions for the briefings using #AskNASA on social media. 

a dusty-brown view of Earth from space, with white clouds and blue waters, is in the background of this photo showing a silvery, cylindrical Cygnus spacecraft with its pair of ruddy, circular solar panels extending from its base
File photo from June 28, 2022, of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft grappled by the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch on the company’s Antares rocket from Virginia Space Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. 

The prelaunch briefing participants: 

  • Joel Montalbano, program manager for the International Space Station, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston 
  • Heidi Parris, associate program scientist for the International Space Station, NASA Johnson 
  • Steve Krein, vice president, Civil and Commercial Space, Northrop Grumman 
  • Kurt Eberly, director, Space Launch Programs, Northrop Grumman 
  • Jeff Reddish, range chief, NASA Wallops 

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jamie Adkins

L-72 Forecast: 80% Favorable for Antares Launch

L-72 Forecast: 80% Favorable for Antares Launch

Close up of the Antares rocket on its side with a white water tower in the background. The rocket is all white with Northrop Grumman's logo and Antares written vertically down one side. Behind the the sky is a light blue.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft loaded with cargo bound for the International Space Station arrives at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Friday, July 28, 2023, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 19th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver more than 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. The CRS-19 Cygnus spacecraft is named after NASA astronaut Dr. Laurel Clark who flew aboard Columbia STS-107, and is scheduled to launch at 8:31 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Photo Credit: (NASA/Patrick Black)

The Wallops Range forecast issued today for the Tuesday, Aug. 1, launch of Northrop Grumman’s 19th resupply mission to the International Space Station puts weather at 80% favorable.

A weak area of high pressure will move off the coast Sunday evening, as a weak upper-level disturbance tracks toward the Wallops region with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms Monday morning through late Monday evening. The upper-level trough will remain over the Wallops Region Tuesday with a chance of an afternoon, sea breeze, pop-up shower or thunderstorms during the countdown. At this time, the primary concern for launch is a slight chance of cumulus clouds.

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman is targeting 8:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 1, for the launch. 

 

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Jamie Adkins