Falcon 9 Sends Cygnus Cargo to Space Station, But Issues Arise
A Falcon 9 rocket launched a Cygnus cargo ship to the ISS on August 4, but problems followed.
The Falcon 9 took off from Cape Canaveral at 11:02 a.m. Despite a day’s delay due to bad weather and the threat of Tropical Storm Debby, the launch seemed smooth, with Cygnus separating from the upper stage about 15 minutes later.
NASA and Northrop Grumman stayed quiet for several hours post-separation. However, chats between astronauts and mission control hinted that Cygnus hadn’t done its initial burns to lift its orbit for an early August 6 arrival.
Nearly six hours after liftoff, NASA explained in a statement that Cygnus missed its first crucial maneuver called TB1 because of a late sequence entry. An attempt to redo the burn 50 minutes later also failed due to low engine pressure.
Engineers at Northrop Grumman are fixing this with a new plan, aiming for Cygnus to reach the station by 3:10 a.m. on August 6. They reported that solar arrays had deployed as expected three hours after launch.
Cygnus carries 3,857 kilograms of cargo: hardware, science experiments, and crew supplies. Items include parts for a urine processing system and tools for a solar array set to be installed in 2025.
I think it’s fascinating how they manage these complex missions.
There are experiments to see how space affects DNA in tiny organisms and another on stem cells for treating blood diseases. There’s also an education project to show centripetal force using balloons.
Crew supplies include clothes and personal food items for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the ISS for nearly two months. Their return date is uncertain, so the supplies help keep options open.
Notably missing from Cygnus are Crew Dragon pressure suits for Wilmore and Williams, leading to talk that they might return on Crew Dragon instead of Starliner. “We would have to deal with that later,” Spetch said.
This launch is the second of three Falcon 9 missions arranged by Northrop Grumman while collaborating with Firefly Aerospace on a new Antares rocket version, the Antares 330, which replaces parts made in Ukraine and Russia.
Ryan Tintner from Northrop Grumman didn’t commit to a specific readiness timeline for Antares. He stated, “That is progressing as planned here and we’re on track.”
“Cygnus is launch-vehicle agnostic,” he added, emphasizing flexibility in choosing future launch vehicles.
