A Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft launched on an Antares 230+ rocket from the Virginia Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad 0A at Wallops on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, with the Cygnus resupply spacecraft onboard then transited to the International Space Station.
After its capture this morning at Feb. 18, 2020 at 4:05 a.m. EST, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft was bolted into place on the International Space Station’s
The CRS-13 brings roughly 7,500 pounds of science investigations and cargo and will stay docked for about 3 months prior to departing.
Expedition 62 astronaut Andrew Morgan of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Cygnus, and NASA’s Jessica Meir will monitor telemetry during rendezvous, capture, and installation on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port. The spacecraft is scheduled to stay at the space station until May.
This delivery, Northrop Grumman’s 13th cargo flight to the space station, the second under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA and designated NG-13.
The prior Cygnus mission departed the International Space Station’s at 9:36 a.m. EST after Expedition 61 Flight Engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir of NASA commanded its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm about 250 miles over the South Pacific just off the West Coast of Chile.
Cygnus demonstrated a new release position for departure operations and incorporated the first ground-controlled release for improved flight control. The new orientation allowed for easier drift away from the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
CRS-12 began its secondary mission deploying a series of payloads. CRS-12 Cygnus spacecraft brought with it for deployment a series of CubeSats: HuskySat-1 (University of Washington), SwampSat II (University of Florida), EdgeCube (Sonoma State University), and CIRis (Utah State University).
Northrop Grumman flight controllers in Dulles, Virginia, will initiate CRS-12 deorbit and execute a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere at the end of February.
The Cygnus NG CRS-13 spacecraft for this space station resupply mission is named in honor of U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert Lawrence, the first African American astronaut selected by any program, specifically chosen for the Air Force’s Manned Orbital Laboratory Program in June 1967. Lawrence died in an F-104 Starfighter aircraft accident at Edwards Air Force Base, California six months later at the age of 32.
In a press release NASA shared the following details regarding the scientific investigations Cygnus is delivering to the space station:
Better Tissue and Cell Culturing in Space
Mobile SpaceLab, a tissue and cell-culturing facility, offers investigators a quick-turnaround platform to perform sophisticated microgravity biology experiments. Such experiments are critical for determining how microgravity affects human physiology and identifying ways to mitigate negative effects.
A Close-up View
The Mochii investigation provides an initial demonstration of a new miniature scanning electron microscope with spectroscopy. Mochii will demonstrate real-time, on-site imaging and measurements of micro- and nanostructures aboard the space station. This capability could accelerate answers to many scientific inquiries and mission decisions and serve the public as a powerful and unique microgravity research platform.
Examining Bone Loss in Microgravity
Astronauts experience bone loss in orbit, stemming from the lack of gravity acting on their bones. OsteoOmics investigates the molecular mechanisms that dictate this bone loss by examining osteoblasts, cells in the body that form bone, and osteoclasts, which dissolve bone. A better understanding of these mechanisms could lead to more effective prevention of astronaut bone loss during space missions.
Fighting Bacteria with Phages
Phage Evolution examines the effects of microgravity and radiation exposure on phage, viruses that destroy bacteria without harming human cells, and bacterial host interactions, including phage specificity for a bacterial host and host resistance to specific phages. A better understanding of the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on bacteriophages and hosts could result in significant developments for phage technology, ultimately helping protect the health of astronauts on future missions.
(Do Not) Light My Fire
The Spacecraft Fire Experiment-IV (Saffire-IV) investigation examines fire development and growth in different materials and environmental conditions, fire detection and monitoring, and post-fire cleanup capabilities. Saffire-IV contributes to fire safety efforts in similar environments on Earth, from submarines to mines, and helps improve general understanding and modeling of fire phenomena.
Cygnus is a unmanned cargo delivery Spacecraft supporting the International Space Station
Northrop Grumman (formerly Orbital ATK) developed the Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft to provide cargo delivery services under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Space Act Agreement. Cygnus supports flights to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) contract. Under the initial $1.9 billion CRS contract, Northrop Grumman was contracted for 11 missions delivering approximately 30,000 kilograms of cargo to the space station. The 1st of these was successfully launched 18 September 2013 and subsequently completed in early 2014. Under the follow-on CRS contract, Northrop Grumman was contracted to provide at least 6 missions carrying over 20,000 kg of cargo to the ISS.
Cygnus consists of a service module and a pressurized cargo module.
Although unmanned, the Cygnus avionics was designed to fully meets all of the demanding NASA safety requirements imposed on human-rated vehicles. The service module incorporates avionics developed by Northrop Grumman and guidance and navigation components that allow for fully autonomous rendezvous with the space station. Cygnus service module is partially derived from and incorporated learnings from GEOStarTM, LEOStarTM. Cygnus is capable of producing 3.5kW with 2 fixed wing UltraFlexTM solar arrays, ZTJ Gallium Arsenide cells.
For propulsion, Cygnus is dual-mode. It utilizes hypergolic propellants either N2H4/MON-3 or N2H4 Propellant. (hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide)
The pressurized cargo module portion of the Spacecraft is manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and incorporated design features and lessons learned from Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. It has a cargo capacity of up to 3,750 kg and a pressurized Volume of 26.2 m3. Cygnus can berth on Node 1 or Node 2 utilizing the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM).
NASA uses Cygnus to carry crew supplies, spare equipment and scientific experiments to the space station.
- DIAMETER 3.01 m/9.87ft
- HEIGHT 5.07 m/16.63 ft
- VOLUME 18.9m3/ 667.45ft3
- TRUNK VOLUME ?m3/ ?ft3
- LAUNCH MASS 6,000 kg
- LAUNCH PAYLOAD MASS 3,500 kg / 7,716 lbs
- RETURN PAYLOAD MASS 0kg / 0lbs
Credit: NASA Cygnus seen here in October 2015 being loaded for an unmanned cargo delivery to the International Space Station
Oct. 20, 2015 - Equipment and supplies loaded aboard a Cygnus spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
About Antares Rocket
The Antares rocket is a two-stage vehicle (with optional third stage) that provides low-Earth orbit (LEO) launch capability for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg. The rocket’s design has been upgraded with newly-built Energomash RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability. The RD-181 replaced the aging Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines. Antares development was Internally funded by Northrop Grumman.
Northrop Grumman started delivery of cargo and supplies to the space station under the NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS1) contract in 2014. Northrop Grumman was selected to continue flying cargo re-supply missions under the CRS2 contract which includes at least six missions starting in 2019.
The Antares launch system leverages Northrop Grumman’s MACH avionics system and many management approaches, engineering standards, production and test processes common to Northrop Grumman’s family of successful small-class Pegasus and Minotaur launch vehicles. The Antares design utilizes Energomash RD-181 engines on the first stage that deliver excellent payload performance and high reliability.
- Incorporates both solid and liquid stages and flight-proven technologies
- Provides substantial payload performance into a variety of low inclination low-Earth and sun synchronous orbits and interplanetary trajectories
- 3.9 meter fairing accommodates large payloads
- Removable pop-top nose cone allows for late load access to spacecraft
- Streamlined vehicle/payload integration and testing reduces time from encapsulation to lift-off
- Capable of launching single and multiple payloads.
- Initial launch capability from Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), Virginia
Also compatible with the Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) and Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC)
Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine vs. NPO Energomash RD-181 Engine
The Antares 100-series first stage was powered by two Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines. These engines originally began as Kuznetsov NK-33 engines built in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and early 1970. Aerojet purchased 43 of these engines in the 1990s. Aerojet refurbished the NK-33 engines into AJ26 engines for Antares. Modifications included equipping the engines for gimballing, adding US electronics, and qualifying the engines to fire for twice as long as designed and to operate at 108% of their original thrust. Together the AJ26 engines produced 3,265 kilonewtons (734,000 lbf) of thrust at sea level and 3,630 kN (816,100 lbf) in vacuum.
The old age of the engines started to cause issues. A catastrophic failure of an AJ26 during testing at Stennis Space Center in May 2014 and the Orb-3 launch failure in October 2014 were indicators that the Antares needed a newer engine. Due to concerns over corrosion, aging, and the limited supply of AJ26 engines a new deal to purchase Russian engines was struck.
The new first stage engines was the NPO Energomash RD-181 and leveraged to bid on a second major long-term contract for cargo resupply of the ISS. The RD-181 is a modified version of the RD-191 and replaced the AJ26 on the Antares 200-series. The first successful flight with the RD-181 engines in leu of the AJ26 engines was October 17, 2016, carrying the Cygnus CRS OA-5 cargo to the ISS.
The two NPO Energomash RD-181 engines provide 440 kilonewtons (100,000 lbf) which was more thrust than the dual AJ26 engines used on the Antares 100. The changes to the Antares increased performance in the 200 Series, allowing Antares to deliver up to 6,500 kg (14,300 lb) to low Earth orbit.
Bill D'Zio
Co-Founder at WestEastSpace.com
Bill founded WestEastSpace.com after returning to China in 2019 to be supportive of his wife's career. Moving to China meant leaving the US rocket/launch industry behind, as USA and China don't see eye to eye on cooperation in space. Bill has an engineering degree and is an experienced leader of international cross-functional teams with experience in evaluating, optimizing and awarding sub-contracts for complex systems. Bill has worked with ASME Components, Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) for use in launch vehicles, satellites, aerospace nuclear, and industrial applications.
Bill provides consulting services for engineering, supply chain, and project management.
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