Orbital launches resupply mission to space station – WATCH liftoff of Cygnus spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility!

New Delhi: US aerospace firm Orbital ATK launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft atop an Antares rocket to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Cygnus spacecraft lifted off at 7:45 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

WATCH - Liftoff of Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft atop an Antares rocket!

This is the sixth cargo mission to the space station for Orbital ATK.

 

Cygnus, which carried about 5,100 pounds (2,300 kilograms) of supplies and science experiments for the ISS, is scheduled to arrive at the space station Sunday, October 23.

As per NASA, the new experiments include studies on fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms, collection of health-related data, and a new way to measure neutrons.

Expedition 49 astronauts Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to grapple Cygnus, about 6 a.m.

This resupply mission marked the first flight of the upgraded Antares 230 vehicle, and the first launch from Wallops since an Antares rocket and its Cygnus spacecraft were lost in October 2014.

The Cygnus spacecraft will remain at the space station until November before its destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, disposing of about 3,000 pounds of trash.