Cygnus Orb-1

Orbital-1, also known as Orb-1, was the second flight of the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo spacecraft, its second flight to the International Space Station (ISS) and the third launch of the company's Antares launch vehicle. The mission launched on 9 January 2014 at 18:07:05 UTC.

Spacecraft

Orb-1 was the first of eight contracted flights by Orbital Sciences under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract. This was the maiden flight of the Castor 30B second stage. Orbital Sciences continued its naming of Cygnus spacecraft in tribute to former astronauts. This vehicle was named the S.S. ''C. Gordon Fullerton'' for C. Gordon Fullerton, the NASA astronaut who died on 21 August 2013. This Cygnus cargo mission launched the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer to the ISS's Kibō module.

Launch and early operations

The launch of Orb-1 was scheduled for November 2013, but a series of delays pushed the date to 20 December 2013. The Antares launch vehicle rolled out from the Wallops Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) on the morning of 17 December 2013, and was later erected at Launch Pad 0A. Later that day, due to the need for a series of spacewalks to fix a faulty coolant system on the International Space Station, NASA directed Orbital Sciences to stand down the Antares rocket. Antares was rolled back to the HIF and time-sensitive cargo removed. The launch date was rescheduled for no earlier than 13 January 2014, but was later moved forward to 7 January 2014 after a scheduling conflict at Wallops was resolved. The launch was delayed one day due to cold temperatures at the launch site.

NASA Wallops and Orbital Sciences announced the launch attempt on 8 January 2014 was scrubbed due to "an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment". Orbital later revised this, stating that a more extensive review of the radiation environment found it to be "within acceptable limits" of the Antares program, and that a launch would be attempted on 9 January 2014.

The Orb-1 mission successfully launched on 9 January 2014 at 18:07:05 UTC from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0A. Solar array deployment occurred shortly after arriving in orbit. The Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station early on 12 January 2014.

The launch was expected to be viewable from South Carolina through Massachusetts and as far west as West Virginia. As with its last couple of launches out of Wallops, Orbital Sciences released viewing information for the Eastern United States, including maps indicating launch vehicle maximum elevation above horizon and time of first sighting after launch for the various viewing locations.

Payload

Cygnus was filled with of supplies for the ISS, including science experiments and hardware to expand the research capability of the station, crew provisions and spare parts. This included 12 experiments flying as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), selected from 1,466 entrants and involving 7,200 North American students. Types of cargo include:

* Crew supplies:
* Hardware:
* Science and research:
* Computer supplies:
* Spacewalk tools:

Some of the major experiments focus on:
* NASA's Launch Services Program SPHERES-Slosh Experiment for the SPHERES testbed
* Vaccines, antibiotic effectiveness, and drug resistance in space
* Physics research which may lead to better products on Earth
* Fire and liquid behavior in space
* Ant behavior in space
* Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer.

Cygnus also contained 33 cubesat, making the total number of spacecraft aboard the Antares up to 34, including the Cygnus itself

End of mission

Mobile Servicing System, Canadarm2 unberthed the Cygnus spacecraft from the nadir port of the Harmony module on 18 February 2014 at 10:25 UTC. The spacecraft was then maneuvered to a position below the station, where it was released from the Canadarm2 at 11:41 UTC. It then performed a series of separation maneuvers to move it away from the station. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere and burned up on 19 February 2014 over the southern Pacific Ocean, disposing of approximately of trash.

Gallery

File:Cygnus CRS Orb-1 mated to Antares Dec. 10, 2013.jpg, Cygnus Orb-1 mated to Antares rocket, 10 December 2013.
File:20131217 Antares CRS Orb-1 rocket rollout (201312170011HQ).jpg, The Antares rocket rolls to the launch pad, 17 December 2013.
File:20140109 Launch of the Antares CRS Orb-1 rocket (201401090001HQ).jpg, Launch of the Antares CRS Orb-1 rocket
File:20140109 Launch of the Antares CRS Orb-1 rocket (201401090002HQ).jpg, Launch of the Antares CRS Orb-1 rocket

See also

* Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station

References

External links

CRS Orb-1 mission page
at Orbital.com


at Spaceflight Now

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cygnus 001
Cygnus (spacecraft)
Spacecraft launched by Antares rockets
Spacecraft launched in 2014
Spacecraft which reentered in 2014
Supply vehicles for the International Space Station