NASA, Northrop Grumman Prepare for Commercial Resupply Launch to Space Station from Wallops on Aug. 1

NASA & SPACE NEWS

(NASA) – NASA and Northrop Grumman are targeting the liftoff of the company’s Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft for the next commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station.

The launch is set no earlier than 8:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 1, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Following launch, Cygnus will be grappled by the space station’s Canadarm2 no earlier than Friday, Aug. 4, and berthed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading by the Expedition 69 crew.

Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations.

Highlights of space station research aboard this Cygnus are:

■ The final iteration of a series of flammability experiments

■ A new potable water dispenser that provides hot water and improved sanitization

■ Neural cells that will be cultured into 3D cell models for gene therapy testing

■ A probe that measures plasma contents of the upper atmosphere

■ A memory card that contains creative works from students around the world

Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations aboard humanity’s laboratory in space.

To learn more about NASA’s Northrop Grumman commercial resupply missions CLICK HERE.

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