Private Cygnus Freighter Berths at Space Station with Huge Science Cargo and Ant Colony

With the Moon as a spectacular backdrop, an Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo spacecraft speeding at 17500 MPH on a landmark flight and loaded with a huge treasure trove of science, belated Christmas presents and colonies of ants rendezvoued at the space station early this Sunday morning (Jan. 12) and was then deftly parked by astronauts guiding it with the Canadian robotic arm.

Cygnus is a commercial resupply freighter stocked with 1.5 tons of vital research experiments, crew provisions and student science projects that serves as an essential “lifeline” to keep the massive orbiting outpost and humming with the science for which it was designed.

Following a two day orbital chase that started with the spectacular blastoff on(…)
Read the rest of Private Cygnus Freighter Berths at Space Station with Huge Science Cargo and Ant Colony (749 words)

© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2014. |
Permalink |
No comment |

Post tags: Antares rocket, Commercial Space Flight, Cygnus cargo vessel, ISS, NASA, NASA Wallops, Orbital Sciences Corporation, SpaceX, SSEP, student science, student spaceflight experiments program

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh