Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Atlas V, Cygnus launched to ISS

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: December 6, 2015 at 9:10:06 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Atlas V, Cygnus launched to ISS

United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches OA-4 Cygnus to International Space Station
Launch Marks First ISS Resupply Mission for ULA

Atlas V OA-4 Mission Overview

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., (Dec. 6, 2015) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the OA-4 Cygnus resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 Dec. 6 at 4:44 p.m. EST.

The mission, flown for Orbital ATK under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract, marks the first time the Cygnus has flown on an Atlas V rocket. This was ULA's 12th launch in 2015. At just over 8 tons, Cygnus is the heaviest payload to launch atop an Atlas V rocket.

"Congratulations to the team on today's successful launch! Partnering with Orbital ATK to launch the Cygnus resupply vehicle to the ISS for NASA, a first for ULA, marks a great achievement for the team, and has provided a critical service to the nation and to the crew on the ISS," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Atlas and Delta Programs. "This mission is delivering more than 7,000 pounds of cargo including supplies for the crew and critical materials supporting science and research investigations."

Cygnus is a low-risk design incorporating elements drawn from Orbital ATK and its partners' existing, flight-proven spacecraft technologies. Cygnus consists of a common Service Module (SM) and a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). The SM is assembled and tested at Orbital ATK's Dulles, Virginia, satellite manufacturing facility and incorporates systems from Orbital ATK's flight-proven LEOStar™ and GEOStar™ satellite product lines. The PCM is based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), developed and built by Thales Alenia Space of Italy.

"In the 12 months since this launch was ordered, the ULA and Orbital ATK teams worked very closely together to integrate the Cygnus with the Atlas launch system, including development of a new structural adapter and also a mission design that includes a 30-minute launch window for this ISS rendezvous mission, " said Sponnick.

This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine and the Centaur upper stage was powered by the Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine.

ULA's next launch is the GPS IIF-12 satellite for the U.S. Air Force, scheduled for Feb. 3, 2016, from Space Launch Complex-41 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 100 satellites to orbit that provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the mysteries of our solar system.

For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch and instagram.com/ulalaunch.
Copyright © 2015 United Launch Alliance, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Atlas V, Cygnus blast off from Cape Canaveral to ISS
James Dean, FLORIDA TODAY 6:34 p.m. EST December 6, 2015

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches at 4:44 p.m. with Cygnus spacecraft from Cape Canaveral heading toward the International Space Station. NASA video. Posted Dec.6, 2015
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(Photo: Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY)

An International Space Station supply ship blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:44 p.m. Sunday, lifting off on the mission's fourth try.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket roared into clouds above Launch Complex 41 with an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft that was flying for the first time since a failed launch in October 2014.
Twenty-one minutes after the liftoff, the Cygnus and its 7,000 pounds of food, spare parts and science experiments separated from the rocket's Centaur upper stage to reach orbits safely and begin a two-and-a-half day flight to the ISS.
Just after 6 p.m., engineers confirmed that the cylindrical spacecraft's two solar arrays had unfurled like Japanese fans, ensuring they could generate the power needed to complete the mission.
Critical cargo on board the Cygnus includes a spacesuit jet pack and high-pressure tanks of oxygen and nitrogen to replenish the station's air supply.
The mission will support dozens of experiments, some developed by students. One tiny satellite built by elementary students from a Catholic school in Arlington, Virginia, carries a camera and a medallion blessed by Pope Francis.
An Atlas V rocket heads into the clouds shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. The rocket is carrying the Cygnus cargo module bound for the International Space Station. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY
Another experiment hopes to improve flame-resistant materials that could be worn by first responders.
Fresh fruit and holiday gifts for the station's six-person crew also are packed inside the Cygnus.
The mission is Orbital ATK's fourth of 10 under a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract worth more than $2 billion.
The company's previous launch ended 15 seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island in Virginia on Oct. 28, 2014, when the main engines on its Antares rocket failed. The rocket and its Cygnus payload to fall back to the ground with a massive explosion.
While redesigning the Antares with different engines, Orbital ATK purchased two Cygnus launches on the Atlas V flown from Cape Canaveral by ULA, a Boeing-Lockheed joint venture.
The Atlas lifted off for the 60th time since its debut in 2002, flying ULA's 12th and final mission of 2015, all successes.
Cape Canaveral could host at least one more launch this year, with SpaceX hoping to return its Falcon 9 with a launch of commercial satellites.
The Falcon 9's last flight in June ended in failure while carrying a Dragon capsule full of ISS supplies.
Orbital ATK hopes to complete the first successful delivery of cargo from U.S. soil since April, the last time a Dragon reached the station.
That drought has strained supplies of food, toiletries and spare parts on the space station, adding to the importance of Sunday's launch and others to follow.
Poor weather scrubbed launch attempts Thursday and Friday, and caused a third try on Saturday to be postponed.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com.
Copyright © 2015 www.floridatoday.com. All rights reserved.

Cygnus Spaceship Launch Restarts Orbital ATK Cargo Missions for NASA
by Sarah Lewin, Staff Writer | December 06, 2015 05:44pm ET

With a brilliant afternoon launch, the private spaceflight company Orbital ATK returned its Cygnus cargo ship to flight after a year on hiatus Sunday (Dec. 6), launching vital supplies and NASA gear to the International Space Station.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft on the OA-4 mission launches from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:44 p.m. EST on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.
Credit: United Launch Alliance
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The unmanned Cygnus spacecraft blasted off from a pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) Sunday after a three-day delay caused by bad weather. The liftoff marks the first resupply mission for NASA by Orbital ATK since the loss of its last Cygnus vehicle and Antares rocket in October 2014. The vehicle is expected to deliver nearly 4 tons of supplies, including a life sciences facility, microsatellite launcher, Microsoft HoloLens sets and other tools, when it arrives at the space station on Thursday (Dec. 10).
Orbital ATK was able to mount a second supply mission so quickly after last year's rocket failure by collaborating with the U.S. launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA), which provided the Atlas V rocket that lofted Cygnus into space Sunday evening. The mission is especially important because there have been two other delivery failures in the past year, one in June by rival U.S. company SpaceX and another by Russia's Federal Space Agency in April. [See photos from today's Orbital ATK Cygnus launch]
Astronauts on the space station were able to watch the launch from their vantage point in orbit, capturing a stunning view of the liftoff. "Caught something good on the horizon. #Cygnus at #sunset on its way to @space_station! #YearInSpace," NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who commands the station's six-man crew and is flying a one-year mission to the outpost, wrote on Twitter after launch.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on the International Space Station captured this view from orbit as the Cygnus cargo ship launching spaceward on an Atlas V rocket on Sunday, Dec. 6 2015.
Credit: NASA/Scott Kelly via Twitter (@StationCDRKelly)
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"Within a few days [of the failed launch last year], we had a plan," Frank Culbertson, Space Systems Group president at Orbital ATK and retired NASA astronaut, said in a press briefing Wednesday (Dec. 2). "With the help of our friends at ULA, who stepped forward and offered us a ride in a very short period of time, we've reached this point," which is, he added, less than 12 months from the first discussion to launch. "That's quite an accomplishment for the commercial space industry, in my opinion — I think it says a lot about what we can do to support NASA and all of exploration in space."
Cygnus separated from its Atlas V booster about 21 minutes after launching into orbit. It is due to rendezvous at the International Space Station on Thursday (Dec. 10). NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren will capture the Cygnus using the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm and attach the cargo ship to an Earth-facing port on the outpost's Unity module. That connection will be the first berthing to the port in many years, NASA officials said. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who commands the station and is in the midst of a one-year mission in space, is Lindgren's backup.
A bigger, better Cygnus
How Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft service the space station. See how Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rockets works here.
Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist
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Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft are autonomous vehicles designed to haul tons of freight to the space station, then burn up in Earth's atmosphere with trash and unneeded items aboard at mission's end. Orbital ATK names its Cygnus vehicles after astronauts, with the one launched Sunday christened the S.S. Deke Slayton II in honor of the former NASA astronaut, one of the agency's original "Mercury Seven" spaceflyers.
Over the course of the successful first two flights in Orbital ATK's $1.9 billion, eight-flight contract with NASA, the company's Cygnus vehicles have delivered more than 7,940 lbs. (3,600 kilograms) to the space station and re-entered the atmosphere with 6,830 lbs. (3,100 kg) of trash. This time, an "enhanced Cygnus" craft is carrying more than 7,700 pounds (3,500 kg) of supplies up with it — it was able to carry even more than originally planned, due to the additional capacity of the Atlas V, Orbital ATK officials told Space.com.
The spacecraft has 25 percent more storage space than the old Cygnus and lighter solar arrays that unfold into two circular, outstretched wings to generate power. After about a month, the craft will return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
The next Cygnus launch, in March, will also ride to space on an Atlas V, but after that, Orbital ATK will debut an updated version of the company's Antares rocket.
Big science aboard
The Cygnus that launched Sunday is carrying several experiments on board, including a life sciences research module the size of a locker, a research project to evaluate flame-resistant and flame-retardant textiles in microgravity, an exploration of gas and liquid movement, and two different systems for networking small satellites or modular pieces into a larger whole. The vehicle is also carrying Microsoft HoloLens headsets that will let experts on Earth help station crewmembers with complicated tasks (originally set to be sent on the failed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship launch in June) and a safety jetpack for spacewalks.
Plus, Cygnus will bring several student experiments on board, five of which first took flight on earlier, failed launches over the past year, along with replacement parts for the space station and added consumables for the crew. (This includes a student-built satellite bearing a medallion that was blessed by the Pope.)
"I just can't emphasize enough how it's important to us, on board ISS, to have a regular cadence of resupply flights," Kirk Shireman, the program manager for ISS, said during the briefing. "We're so much looking forward to having Cygnus back on, and of starting a new era on ISS [going] back to regular resupply flights — that way we can utilize ISS like it was intended." Instead of focusing on catching up, NASA will be able to send up more new experiments and components for the crew.
Still, this flight will bring some goodies of its own when it docks on Thursday: "I'm guessing that Santa's sleigh is somewhere inside the Cygnus," Culbertson added. "And they're probably excited about their stockings coming up, too."
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com
Copyright © 2015 TechMediaNetwork.com All rights reserved.

Liftoff: 1st US shipment in months flying to space station
Liftoff: 1st US shipment in months flying to space station, food and Christmas gifts for crew
By Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer
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FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, file photo, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready …
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A U.S. shipment of much-needed groceries and other astronaut supplies rocketed toward the International Space Station for the first time in months Sunday, reigniting NASA's commercial delivery service.
If the Orbital ATK capsule arrives at the space station Wednesday as planned, it will represent the first U.S. delivery since spring.
To NASA's relief, the weather cooperated after three days of high wind and cloudy skies that kept the Atlas V rocket firmly on the ground. Everything came together on the fourth launch attempt, allowing the unmanned Atlas to blast off in late afternoon with 7,400 pounds of space station cargo, not to mention some Christmas presents for the awaiting crew.
"We want to get going," Frank DeMauro, a vice president with NASA's contracted shipper, Orbital ATK, said shortly before liftoff.
The rocket sored through clouds, as the space station sped over the Atlantic, north Bermuda.
The six station astronauts — two of them deep into a one-year mission — have gone without American shipments since April. Two private companies contracted for more than $3.5 billion by NASA to replenish the 250-mile-high lab are stuck on Earth with grounded rockets. Orbital ATK bought another company's rocket, the veteran Atlas V, for this supply mission.
Orbital's previous grocery run, its fourth, ended in a fiery explosion seconds after liftoff in October 2014. SpaceX, the other supplier, suffered a launch failure in June on its eighth trip.
Russia also lost a supply ship earlier this year. But it's since picked up the slack, with another resupply mission scheduled just before Christmas, and Japan has chipped in as well.
Much-needed food is inside Orbital's cargo carrier, named Cygnus after the swan constellation. NASA normally likes to have a six-month stash of food aboard the space station, but it's down a couple months because of the three failed flights. Space station program manager Kirk Shireman expects it will take another year to get the pantry full again — provided there are no more accidents.
Also aboard the newest Cygnus capsule: clothes, toiletries, spacewalking gear, air-supply tanks and science experiments.
This is the first time that the United Launch Alliance's Atlas V has served the space station. Normally used for hefty satellite launches, it is the mighty successor to the Atlas used to put John Glenn into orbit in 1962. Boeing intends to use the Atlas V to boost the Starliner capsules it's building to ferry astronauts to the space station beginning in 2017.
Orbital plans to use another Atlas rocket for a supply run in March, then return its own Antares rocket to flight from Virginia in May.
SpaceX — also part of NASA's commercial crew effort — aims to restart station deliveries in January with its Falcon rockets.
While acknowledging 2015 has been a difficult year because of the disrupted supply chain, Shireman said commercial space is inevitable and will drive down launch costs. NASA's 30-year shuttle program proved expensive and complicated, and, on two flights, deadly.
"It is our future," Shireman stressed at a news conference last week.
The Cygnus launched Sunday is named after Mercury 7 astronaut Deke Slayton, a pioneer in commercial spaceflight before his death in 1993.

Copyright © 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Orbital heads back to International Space Station on cargo run
By Irene Klotz

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An Atlas 5 ULA (United Launch Alliance) rocket carrying a satellite for the Defense Meteorological Satellite …
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Sunday, sending a long-awaited Orbital ATK cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station for NASA.
The Atlas 5, built and flown by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:44 p.m. EST (2144 GMT) after three days of delays to wait out poor weather and high winds.
Sunday's launch reopens one of two U.S. supply lines to the station, a $100 billion research laboratory circling 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. Both cargo lines had been shut down by failed rocket launches.
Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital, an aerospace and defense company with annual revenues of about $4.4 billion, hopes to return its own Antares rocket to flight in May, following an October 2014 launch accident. Meanwhile, Orbital bought two Atlas rocket rides from ULA to resume work under its $1.9 billion NASA contract.
NASA's second supply line, operated by privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is aiming to return its Falcon 9 rocket to flight this month following a botched station cargo run in June.
Both companies hope to win follow-on station resupply contracts from the U.S. space agency in January. They face competition from privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp, which is offering a robotic version of a small shuttle-like space plane called Dream Chaser. Boeing was eliminated from the competition last month.
With the arrival of its Cygnus capsule at the station, Orbital hopes to make up for lost time. The upgraded capsule, which is due to arrive on Wednesday, is loaded with more than 7,700 pounds (3,500 kg) of food, clothing, computer gear, spacewalk equipment, science experiments and other supplies.
That is almost as much cargo as Orbital delivered during a test flight and its two successful cargo missions.
Cygnus will be the first U.S. ship to reach the station since April, though Russia and Japan also fly freighters. Europe flew its fifth and final ATV cargo capsule in August.
The two U.S. launch accidents, plus a failed Russian cargo run in April, have left the station's storage bins a bit empty. NASA aims to keep a six-month supply of food aboard and is currently down to a four-month cushion. Toilet supplies run out in February, said station program manager Kirk Shireman.
(This story has been refiled to correct typographical error in second paragraph to make it 2144 GMT instead of 2104 GMT)
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Tom Brown and Jonathan Oatis)

Copyright © 2015 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Orbital cargo ship blasts off toward space station
By Kerry Sheridan

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Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, seen atop an Atlas V rocket on December 2, 2015 at Cape Canaveral, was launched successfully December 6 on a mission to the International Space Station (AFP Photo/Aubrey Gemignani)
Miami (AFP) - Orbital ATK on Sunday launched its Cygnus cargo ship to resupply astronauts at the International Space Station, one year after a sudden rocket accident delivered a setback to commercial spaceflight.
"Liftoff, on the shoulders of Atlas," NASA spokesman Mike Curie said as the unmanned spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a white Atlas V rocket at 4:44 pm (2144 GMT).
The launch marks Orbital's fourth scheduled mission to the orbiting outpost, as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to deliver necessities to the astronauts living in space.
The spacecraft is carrying the most cargo ever packed onto a barrel-shaped Cygnus, with some 7,300 pounds (3,300 kilograms) of gear, including science experiments, ready-made food, a jet pack for spacewalking astronauts and even a satellite made by elementary school students.
In October 2014, an Orbital Antares rocket packed with thousands of pounds of supplies exploded seconds after takeoff, marking the first catastrophic failure since private companies began resupplying the orbiting outpost in 2010.
It was followed eight months later by a SpaceX rocket explosion, and the consecutive accidents effectively shut off the flow of US supplies to astronauts in orbit.
Orbital ATK and SpaceX -- which has a contract worth $1.6 billion to send food and equipment to the research lab over a series of supply trips -- are the only two US companies that can send spacecraft to the ISS.
A Russian Progress ship was also lost after launch in April, but ISS program managers said the astronauts were never in danger and still have several months of supplies in storage.
- Different rocket -
Orbital ATK arranged to use United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket while it upgrades its Antares rocket, which failed due to a problem with its reconditioned Ukrainian engine.
The company said after the accident that a control operator detected a suspected rocket engine failure, and the rocket was purposefully detonated to prevent damage to people in the area.
The blast cost Orbital at least $200 million in lost equipment and supplies.
The liftoff Sunday atop the Atlas V rocket went smoothly, with no flaws or problems after a launch delay of several days due to bad weather.
"The countdown was exceptionally smooth. It was one of those countdowns that makes them look kind of boring," said Vern Thorp, mission manager for United Launch Alliance.
"We had a pretty clean flight, too, everything happened right on time... This is about as good as it gets."
The spacecraft should arrive at the space station on Wednesday.
Astronauts will use the Canadian-made robotic arm to grapple the spacecraft at around 6:10 am (1110 GMT), NASA said.

Copyright © 2015 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.