Editor’s Note: Northrop Grumman and NASA have set the next launch attempt for Feb. 14 at 3:43 p.m. EST to take advantage of an improved weather forecast, to provide time for testing the replaced ground sensors, and to allow time to refresh critical late load science. The weather forecast calls for 80 percent favorable weather conditions. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 3:15 p.m. The advisory previously was updated to reflect changes in participants in the What’s on Board briefing.
Northrop Grumman’s next NASA resupply services mission to the International Space Station is targeted for launch at 5:39 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 9. Live coverage of the launch and briefings will begin at 5 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission using its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on its Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Loaded with approximately 8,000 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware, the Cygnus spacecraft, dubbed the SS Robert H. Lawrence, will arrive at the space station Tuesday, Feb. 11 at about 4:30 a.m. NASA Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan will grapple Cygnus and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir will be acting as a backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory. The Saffire-IV experiment will be conducted within Cygnus after it departs the station, and prior to deorbit, when it also will dispose of several tons of trash during a fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere May 25.
Media registration for the launch and associated activities is closed. Media can submit questions during the prelaunch news conference and the What’s on Board briefing using #askNASA.
Complete coverage of launch activities is as follows (all time Eastern):
Saturday, Feb. 8:
11 a.m. – Prelaunch News Conference
· Ven Feng, manager, International Space Station Transportation Integration Office, NASA’s International Space Station program
· Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist, International Space Station Program Science Office
· Jeff Reddish, project manager, Wallops Range Antares
· Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, Tactical Space Systems, Northrop Grumman
· Kurt Eberly, Antares vice president, Launch and Missile Defense Systems, Northrop Grumman
3 p.m. – What’s on Board Briefing
· Heidi Parris, assistant program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Science Office
· Patrick O’Neill, marketing and communications senior manager, International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory
· Heath Mills, co-investigator, Phage Evolution, and chief scientific officer, Rhodium Scientific
· Bruce Hammer, principal investigator, and Louis Kidder, co-investigator, OsteoOmics, University of Minnesota
· Christopher Own, facility manager, Mochii, and chief executive officer, Voxa, and James Martinez, materials scientist, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
· Gary Ruff, project manager, Saffire-IV, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
Sunday, Feb. 9:
5 p.m. – Launch coverage begins
Tuesday, Feb. 11
3 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus with the space station’s robotic arm
6 a.m. – Cygnus installation operations coverage
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 at the only laboratory in space.
Learn more about the Northrop Grumman mission by going to the mission webpage at:
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Gina Anderson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
gina.n.anderson@nasa.gov
Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.
757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov