Angeline Leishman
Northrop Grumman‘s Cygnus spacecraft launched Tuesday onboard an Antares 230+ rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to the the International Space Station as part of a commercial resupply mission with NASA.
Cygnus is expected to arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Thursday, bringing with it various scientific investigations and other materials, the space agency said Tuesday.
Experiments onboard the spacecraft tackles 3D printing using regolith, engineered tissues for declining muscle mass in microgravity, two-phase heat transfer systems, a thermal protection technology for spacecraft re-entry, in-space carbon dioxide emission and mold behavior in near-zero gravity environments.
Cygnus will also deliver a new mounting bracket that will enable the future installation of a solar array pair on the ISS’ backbone truss.
The spacecraft is scheduled to leave the laboratory in November, during which it will dispose of thousands of pounds of waste through a destructive re-entry process.
The mission is Northrop’s 16th cargo flight to the ISS and fifth under its current Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract.
