Cygnus NG-18
NG-18 was the eighteenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its seventeenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The mission successfully launched on 7 November 2022 at 10:32:42 UTC.[1][2] This was the seventh launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.[4][5]
Cygnus S.S. Sally Ride after arrival at the ISS, with solar panels damaged. | |
| Mission type | ISS logistics |
|---|---|
| Operator | Northrop Grumman |
| COSPAR ID | 2022-149A |
| SATCAT no. | 54232 |
| Mission duration | 165 days, 16 hours, 39 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | S.S. Sally Ride |
| Spacecraft type | Enhanced Cygnus |
| Manufacturer |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 7 November 2022, 10:32:42 UTC[1][2] |
| Rocket | Antares 230+ |
| Launch site | Wallops Pad 0A |
| Contractor | Northrop Grumman |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Deorbited |
| Decay date | 22 April 2023, 03:12 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 51.66° |
| Berthing at the International Space Station | |
| Berthing port | Unity nadir |
| RMS capture | 9 November 2022, 10:20 UTC |
| Berthing date | 9 November 2022, 13:05 UTC |
| Unberthing date | 21 April 2023, 08:37 UTC |
| RMS release | 21 April 2023, 11:22 UTC[3] |
| Time berthed | 163 days |
Cygnus NG-18 mission patch | |
Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital ATK designed, acquired, built, and assembled these components: Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced spacecraft using a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) provided by industrial partner Thales Alenia Space and a Service Module based on the Orbital GEOStar satellite bus.[6]
History edit
Cygnus NG-18 was the seventh Cygnus mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems confirmed on 23 February 2021 that Thales Alenia Space of Turin, Italy, will fabricate two additional Pressurized Cargo Modules (PCMs) for a pair of forthcoming Commercial Resupply Services-2 missions. Current plans are for the two additional Cygnus spacecraft to be designated NG-18 and NG-19.[7][when?]
Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft are performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles, Virginia and Houston, Texas.[6][when?]
Spacecraft edit
This was the thirteenth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.[5][8]
The vehicle was named the S.S. Sally Ride, after the first American woman in space.[9]
Flight edit
NG-18 was originally scheduled to launch on 6 November 2022. However, a fire alarm resulted in an evacuation of Northrop Grumman's control center, and the flight was postponed to the next day.[10]
The mission lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on 7 November 2022. About six hours into the flight, NASA announced that one of the two solar arrays failed to deploy. The deploy failure was attributed to acoustic blanket debris being lodged into solar-array mechanisms during a stage separation event.[11]
Northrop Grumman reported that the spacecraft would still be able to reach the ISS. After assessing the situation, NASA determined a rendezvous was safe.[12] The vehicle reached the ISS on November 9.[13]
Manifest edit
The Cygnus spacecraft is loaded with 3,707 kg (8,173 lb) of research, hardware, and crew supplies.[14]
- Crew supplies: 1,637 kg (3,609 lb)
- Science investigations: 850 kg (1,870 lb)
- Spacewalk equipment: 66 kg (146 lb)
- Vehicle hardware: 1,077 kg (2,374 lb)
- Computer resources: 78 kg (172 lb)
Research edit
The new experiments arriving at the orbiting laboratory will inspire future scientists and explorers, and provide valuable insight for researchers.
NASA Glenn Research Center studies: [15][16]
- The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction - Material Ignition and Suppression Test (SoFIE-MIST) investigation examines thermally-assisted burning in microgravity, by varying parameters including air flow speed, oxygen concentration, pressure, and level of external radiation. [17]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b Navin, Joseph (5 November 2022). "SS Sally Ride Cygnus launches to ISS on NG-18 mission". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ a b Garner, Rob (7 November 2022). "Liftoff of Northrop Grumman's CRS-18 Antares Rocket – NASA's Northrop Grumman CRS-18 Commercial Resup Mission". NASA Blogs. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ Garcia, Mark (21 April 2023). "Robotic Arm Releases Cygnus Space Freighter from Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 3 June 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Gebhardt, Chris (1 June 2018). "Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS-2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b Clark, Stephen (1 October 2020). "Northrop Grumman "optimistic" to receive more NASA cargo mission orders". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Cygnus Spacecraft". Northrop Grumman. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ Evans, Ben (23 February 2021). "Northrop Grumman Green-Lights Two More Cygnus Missions, As NG-15 Arrives at Space Station". AmericaSpace. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ Leone, Dan (17 August 2015). "NASA Orders Two More ISS Cargo Missions From Orbital ATK". spacenews.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- ^ "NASA Commercial Resupply Mission NG-18". Northrop Grumman. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ Tariq Malik (6 November 2022). "Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station". Space.com. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (9 November 2022). "Cygnus arrives at space station despite solar array problem". SpaceNews. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (8 November 2022). "Cygnus solar array fails to deploy". SpaceNews. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ Mike Wall (9 November 2022). "Cygnus cargo ship arrives at space station with only one working solar panel". Space.com. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
- ^ . NASA. November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "ISS Research Program". Glenn Research Center. NASA. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center | NASA. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ "Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction – Material Ignition and Suppression Test (SoFIE-MIST) | Science Mission Directorate". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
External links edit
- Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply, NASA page