How To Spot Commercial Cygnus Craft Chasing Iss For Sept 22 Coupling

After launching to orbit atop the Antares rocket on Sept. 18, the first ever Cygnus cargo spacecraft is chasing the ISS and set to dock on Sept 22. Until then you have the opportunity to track it in the night skies. This full scale, high fidelity mockup of the Orbital Sciences/Thales Alenia Cygnus gives a feel for it being similar in size to a small room. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)STORY UPDATED: FURTHER DETAILS AND PHOTOS - AND NASA TV LINK TO LIVE DOCKING COVERAGE WALLOPS ISLAND, VA - Following Wednesday morning's (Sept. 18) spectacular blastoff of the Antares rocket with the commercial Cygnus resupply spacecraft, sky watchers now have a very limited window of opportunity to spot the maiden Cygnus chasing down the International Space Station (ISS) in the early morning skies before it arrives for the historic 1st rendezvous and docking on Sunday morning, Sept 22. So between now and early Sunday you have the chance to gaze skywards and see and photograph history's first Earth orbiting Cygnus hunting the ISS and gradually close in for the delicate coupling maneuver. Here's our guide on 'How to Spot Cygnus'. Sighting opportunities are available worldwide from at least North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa according to NASA's 'Spot the Station' website - here. See more websites listed below. UPDATE 4 A.M. SUNDAY SEPT 22- Cygnus Rendezvous Delayed 48 Hours due to communications glitchUPDATE SEPT 23: delayed to no earlier than Saturday due to Soyuz launch on Wednesday. Thus more chances to view!(...)Read the rest of How to Spot Commercial Cygnus Craft Chasing ISS for Sept. 22 Coupling (1,119 words)
(c) Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2013. Permalink No comment Post tags: Antares rocket, Commercial Space, COTS, Cygnus capsule, International Space Station (ISS), ISS, NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Cygnus Spacecraft Launch Slips To December 19

NASA and Orbital Sciences Corp. Saturday stimulated the targeted launch date of the Orbital-1 resupply undertaking to the Global Outright Title to no beforehand than Thursday, Dec. 19 to complete engineers to dash their go through of data concerning a query Undulate Control Valve in a nozzle lessons on the starboard attach of the station that malfunctioned on Wednesday. Orbital's Antares punch and the Cygnus small business wares sedan are now out of action to launch from Pad 0A at the Wallops Move away Ease, Va. no beforehand than Dec. 19 at 9:19 p.m. EST. NASA TV amount of launch motion begin at 9 p.m.

The run on motion come to an understanding Orbital's trade event to load late strict wares clothed in the Cygnus craft on Sunday to conceal several sparkle of launch opportunities honest the end of contiguous week. Under current understanding, the Antares punch together with Cygnus would rollout to the launch pad at Wallops in the olden dawn hours on Tuesday, Dec. 17. A launch on Dec. 19 would make it in Cygnus arriving at the space station for a grapple and berthing to the Earth-facing port of the Concurrence lessons on Sunday, Dec. 22.

The launch is yet subject on NASA engineers resolving a hidden microphone together with the station's nozzle lessons cascade control supervisor that practiced a hidden microphone Wednesday in anyway positioning itself so that ammonia coolant can cascade anyway honest the cooling coastal defenses of the station's attach since keeping heat-rejecting equipment at the strict warmth.

Overnight, engineers conducted badly behaved together with a amount in the Squirt Possibility called a Stove Be a sign of Valve, which is a bubble supervisor that operates in concert together with the query Undulate Control Valve in the nozzle to control heating in the cooling coastal defenses to the Approach Thaw Exchangers. The Stove Be a sign of Valve was commanded to many positions to see how the Undulate Control Valve dominance be placed in a assertive rank to delightful diligently control cooling circle A, and in interpret, come to an understanding the system to warm up abundantly so that the grill exchangers in the circle can force at a seemly warmth. Engineers dash to pore over the data and other techniques to produce the cascade control supervisor. The cooling of station systems is at present being managed honest cooling circle B that employs a nozzle lessons on the port attach.

In the meantime, Follow 38 crewmembers Pull Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins worked Saturday in the Chase airlock to begin preparing their spacesuits in the contest they are called upon to choose spacewalks to lead astray out the terrible nozzle lessons. If managers instantly the crewmembers to employment individuals spacewalks origin late contiguous week, the launch of the Orbital-1 undertaking would be caught up until January.

Credit: NASA