Cygnus NG-17

Cygnus NG-17,[2] previously known as Cygnus OA-17, is the seventeenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 19 February 2022.[1] It is the sixth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.[3][4]

Cygnus NG-17
NamesCygnus OA-17 (2016–2018)
Mission typeISS resupply
OperatorNorthrop Grumman
Mission duration2 months and 10 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftS.S. Piers Sellers
Spacecraft typeEnhanced Cygnus
Manufacturer
Start of mission
Launch date19 February 2022, 17:40:03 UTC[1]
RocketAntares 230+
Launch siteWallops, Pad 0A
ContractorNorthrop Grumman
End of mission
DisposalDeorbited
Decay date2022 (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Berthing at International Space Station
Berthing portUnity nadir
RMS capture21 February 2022, 09:44 UTC
Berthing date21 February 2022, 12:02 UTC
Unberthing dateMay 2022 (planned)
RMS releaseMay 2022 (planned)
Time berthed67 days

Cygnus NG-17 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.[5]

History

Cygnus NG-17 is the sixth Cygnus mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract.

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.[5]

Spacecraft
Main article: Cygnus (spacecraft)

This will be the twelfth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.[4][6] Northrop Grumman named this spacecraft after Piers Sellers, in celebration of his role in assembling the International Space Station.[2]

Manifest

Cygnus spacecraft is loaded with 3,651 kg (8,049 lb) of research, hardware, and crew supplies.[7][8]

  • Crew supplies: 1,352 kg (2,981 lb)
  • Science investigations: 896 kg (1,975 lb)
  • Spacewalk equipment: 60 kg (130 lb)
  • Vehicle hardware: 1,308 kg (2,884 lb)
  • Computer resources: 35 kg (77 lb)

ISS Reboost

Aside from the expected orbital delivery, Cygnus is scheduled to perform the program's first operational reboost of the ISS. The space station's orbit needs to be changed from time to time as it naturally falls back in Earth's atmosphere.[9]The ISS will change its attitude by about 90 degrees before executing the Cygnus reboost.[10]

Research

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: [11]

  • TBD

See also

References
  1. "NASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman's February Launch from Virginia". NASA (Press release). 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  2. "NASA Commercial Resupply Mission NG-17". Northrop Grumman. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. Gebhardt, Chris (1 June 2018). "Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS-2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. "Northrop Grumman "optimistic" to receive more NASA cargo mission orders". Spaceflight Now. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. "Cygnus Spacecraft". Northrop Grumman. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  6. "NASA Orders Two More ISS Cargo Missions From Orbital ATK". SpaceNews. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  7. "Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply". ISS Program Office. NASA. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. "Overview for Northrop Grumman's 17th Commercial Resupply Mission". ISS Program Office. NASA. 14 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. https://www.space.com/space-station-cygnus-ng-17-cargo-ship-launch
  10. https://mobile.twitter.com/NASA/status/1496613836161441796
  11. "ISS Research Program". Glenn Research Center. NASA. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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