Monday, September 30, 2013

Cygnus space freighter has finally met its rendezvous with the ISS - Gizmodo

Cygnus cargo, which had flown on 18 September, has finally managed to dock with the International Space Station with more than a week late. So on September 29 that the astronauts aboard the ISS have managed to catch it with the big robotic arm our Canadian cousins. The cargo of the private company Orbital Sciences Corp. carrying 700 kg of equipment and supplies.

Cygnus was supposed to dock with the ISS on September 22, but NASA and Orbital Sciences have decided to postpone the attempt because of a formatting problem data. Then on Wednesday, he had also done it the rest of the crew aboard a Soyuz module would also dock with the ISS. NASA has preferred men to chow taking the decision to leave the victuals aboard Cygnus wander a few more days in space. (Whether this decision was challenged by the crew)

Fortunately, once the docking attempt was launched, all went well. Here’s what Charles Bolden said NASA:

Today, with the success of securing the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo module to the ISS, we have expanded the capabilities of America to carry a cargo reliably in low orbit …. And while trading partners show us new systems to reach the station, we at NASA continue to focus on technology to reach an asteroid and Mars.

SpaceX was the first private company to secure a cargo ship to the ISS in May 2012 company. Now Orbital is reached, the competition will certainly evolve in the coming years. It’s almost science fiction. There are now more private space companies and the market is expected to grow rapidly. It is clear that NASA is an important partner in this development. For example, Orbital and NASA have an agreement of $ 1.9 billion for Orbital sends 8 Cygnus cargo to the ISS. And it should also be noted that Orbital has received $ 288 million from NASA to fund the Cygnus project.

Cygnus is a metal cylinder 5 meters long can carry up to 2000 kg of material. Cygnus pressurized module was built by the Italian Thales Alenia Space. Cygnus will remain docked until 22 October. Then it will be detached and will burn on re-entering the atmosphere.

To learn more about Cygnus and more international than American design, go take a look at the excellent EnjoySpace.

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