Cygnus Arrives at the Space Station

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Canadarm2 Captures Cygnus

A week after its original approach date, Orbital Sciences’ commercial cargo craft Cygnus has arrived at the International Space Station. The Expedition 37 crew captured Cygnus with the Canadarm2 at 7 a.m. EDT Sunday. Cygnus launched Sept. 18 aboard an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Orbital Sciences uploaded a software fix for a navigation data mismatch that occurred during its approach Sept. 22. NASA managers opted to wait until after Wednesday’s Soyuz launch and docking to restart capture and berthing activities.

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Welcome Cygnus!

The Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station Sunday, Sept. 29, after an 11-day journey following its launch atop an Antares rocket Sept. 18 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Cygnus completed a series of validation tests on the demonstration mission that sets the stage for the start of regular cargo runs to the complex beginning later this year.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia

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Crew Opens Hatch to Cygnus, Begins Unloading Cargo

The International Space Station’s Expedition 37 crew kicked off its first full workweek as a six-person crew Monday unloading cargo from a newly arrived commercial cargo vehicle and performing a variety of scientific experiments.

In the wake of Sunday’s inaugural arrival of the Orbital Sciences Cygnus resupply ship at the station, Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano opened the hatch to the spacecraft at 4:10 a.m. EDT Monday and began unloading its cache of approximately 1,300 pounds of cargo. Cygnus, which launched Sept. 18 aboard its Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, was captured by the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm under the control of Parmitano at 7:01 a.m. Sunday and berthed to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node at 8:44 a.m.

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Astronaut Shannon Lucid Speaks About G. David Low and Cygnus

Orbital Sciences has named the Cygnus that arrived at the space station after former astronaut and Orbital executive G. David Low. Astronaut Shannon Lucid flew one of her missions with Low, and she spoke with NASA's Josh Byerly about her memories of her former crewmate and thoughts on the honor of the spacecraft bearing his name.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia

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NASA Flight Director Talks Arrival of Cygnus

NASA Flight Director Courtenay McMillan spoke with NASA's Josh Byerly during the arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station. McMillan's team had worked since 2010 to prepare for the test flight of this new cargo vehicle.

Credit: NASA

Source: NASA - Multimedia