Prelaunch Preview – Antares | Cygnus NG-10

Image by Geoff Barrett

What’s all this mean?

Northrup Grumman Innovation Systems will be launching a Cygnus freighter on an Antares 230 rocket to resupply the International Space Station for NASA.

Orbital ATK CRS-9 (OA-9E) (credit: NASA)

The first stage of the Antares 230 rocket is powered by two RD-181 engines fueled by RP-1 and liquid oxygen. The second stage is powered by a single solid fuel Castor 30XL motor.

Cygnus approaching Canadarm (credit: NASA)

The Cygnus freighter will reach the International Space Station a couple of days after launch and is expected to stay berthed to the station for approximately two months. Once unberthed from the ISS and released from the Canadarm, the Cygnus freighter will deploy three CubeSats before it reenters and burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Cygnus freighter will be bringing 3,350 kilograms (7,400 pounds) of supplies to the International Space Station. The manifest includes Thanksgiving dinner for the crew, supplies, spacewalk equipment, computers, vehicle hardware and science investigations. These include the Refabricator, an integrated 3D printer and recycler which can turn plastic waste into filament; MVP-Cell 05, a centrifuge which will be used to investigate of cement solidification in varied gravities, such as those on the moon or Mars; and VECTION, which will test an astronaut’s perception of motion, body position and distance to objects changes in space.

Cygnus freighter SS John Young (credits: NASA/Patrick Black)

This enhanced Cygnus freighter is named after NASA astronaut John Young, who died on January 5, 2018, at age 87. John Young was NASA’s most experienced astronaut, flying to space six times.

John Young (credit: NASA)

He was a Navy fighter and test pilot prior to being selected by NASA in astronaut group 2 in 1962. He flew two Gemini missions. Gemini 3, the first manned Gemini mission, flying in the Pilot role with Gus Grissom as Command Pilot. He was command pilot for Gemini 10, flying with Michael Collins as the Pilot. During this mission, they rendezvoused and docked with an Agena target vehicle, using it to boost their orbit. Michael Collins performed his first EVA, taking photographs of the southern Milky Way and the Gemini spacecraft. They undocked and then rendezvoused with a second Agena target vehicle, the one Neil Armstrong and David Scott docked with during the Gemini 8 mission. Michael Collins then performed his second EVA and tested the Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit to move between the Agena and Gemini spacecraft

John Young on the moon (credit: NASA)

Young flew two Apollo missions, as the Command Module pilot with Commander Tom Stafford and Lunar Module Pilot Gene Cernan on Apollo 10. It was a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, which occurred on the next mission, Apollo 11. Young commanded the penultimate Apollo mission, Apollo 16.  Walking and driving on the moon with Lunar Module Pilot Charlie Duke as Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly orbited alone in their CSM Casper.

Young’s final two missions were as Commander of STS-1, the first orbital flight of the Space Shuttle, with Pilot Robert Crippen and STS-9, the first Spacelab mission, both on Columbia.

If you want the best way to know when a launch is coming, I’d suggest downloading the Launch Alarm app to stay in the know!