A cargo ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Saturday, carrying candy and cheese to satisfy the astronauts’ cravings.
Northrop Grumman launched its Cygnus capsule from the Virginia seashore at 3.21pm and the nearly 4-ton (8,000-pound) shipment – containing more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew – should arrive Tuesday.
Besides the usual experiments and gear, the capsule holds cheddar and manchego cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables, chocolate and three kinds of gummy candy expressly requested by the three station astronauts: Skittles, Hot Tamales, and Mike and Ike’s.
The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket with Cygnus resupply spacecraft on board, launches at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday, in Wallops Island, Virginia
The cargo ship is rocketing toward the International Space Station, carrying the usual experiments and gear but also candy and cheese to satisfy the crew’s cravings
The capsule also holds cheddar and manchego cheeses (file image left) plus fresh fruit and vegetables (file image right)
It took three tries over the past week to get the Antares rocket off the pad with an auspicious 3-2-1.
‘Awesome launch,’ Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy space station program manager, said once the capsule reached orbit.
This was the company’s 13th space station delivery for NASA.
This latest delivery should have arrived well before Valentine’s Day. But last-minute equipment concerns at the Wallops Island launch pad halted last Sunday’s countdown for the Antares rocket.
The astronauts were monitoring the countdown, but the live video feed cut off and they did not learn about the delay until Mission Control radioed the news a half-hour later.
Then bad weather moved in and dangerously high wind scuttled Friday’s attempt.
In this Saturday, November 2, 2019 photo provided by Space Cargo Unlimited, researchers with Space Cargo Unlimited prepare bottles of French red wine to be flown aboard a Northrop Grumman capsule. The wine will age for a year up there before returning to the Luxembourg company. Company officials say researchers will study how weightlessness and space radiation affect the aging process
The nearly 4-ton shipment took flight at 3.21pm and should arrive at the orbiting lab Tuesday
The capsules also bring family care packages, as well as fresh food to offset the run-of-the-mill station grub
This latest delivery should have arrived well before Valentine’s Day. But last-minute equipment concerns at the Wallops Island launch pad halted last Sunday’s countdown for the Antares rocket
This was the company’s 13th space station delivery for NASA. It will deliver more than 7,500 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew
The space station is now home for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Russian Oleg Skripochka
Periodic supply runs by Russia, Japan and NASA’s two private shippers, Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, usually provide more than experiments, equipment, clothes and freeze-dried meals.
The capsules also bring family care packages, as well as fresh food to offset the run-of-the-mill station grub.
Its next shipment is in March.
The space station is now home for Americans Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Russian Oleg Skripochka. Morgan has been up there since July and the two others since September; they’ll remain on board until April.
Three other astronauts returned to Earth earlier this month.
Until astronaut launches resume from Florida – possibly by SpaceX this spring – the station crew will be limited in size to three.
In this handout image supplied by NASA, A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen at sunrise on Pad-0A on Friday. Bad weather moved in and dangerously high wind scuttled Friday’s attempt
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket is rolled out to Pad-0A, on February 5
Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft raised into a vertical position on Pad-0A, on February 5
Workers inspect the rocket portion of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket on the launch pad at the NASA Wallops Island flight facility Saturday, February 8, 2020
NASA astronauts now launch on Russian rockets from Kazakhstan.
Boeing, NASA’s other commercial crew provider, is struggling with software problems in its astronaut capsule. A December test flight was marred by coding errors.
The Cygnus capsules get their name from the Swan Constellation.
This particular Cygnus has been christened the SS Robert H. Lawrence in honor of America’s first black astronaut.
Lawrence, an Air Force major, was chosen in 1967 as an astronaut for a classified military space program known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. He was killed five months later in a plane crash and never flew in space.
This particular Cygnus has been christened the SS Robert H. Lawrence in honor of America’s first black astronaut. Lawrence, an Air Force major, was chosen in 1967 as an astronaut for a classified military space program known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. He was killed five months later in a plane crash and never flew in space