WALLOPS ISLAND, Virginia – A Northrop Grumman rocket is poised to launch supplies, new science and hardware to the International Space Station on Tuesday from the Virginia spaceport.
The Antares rocket with the Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to liftoff at 8:31 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
According to NASA, the launch weather is forecast to be 80% favorable, with the primary concern of cumulus clouds in the area. If the launch is delayed to Wednesday, the probability increases to 85%.
The mission will mark Northrop Grumman’s 19th supply run to the ISS for NASA. The Cygnus spacecraft will carry more than 8,200 pounds of research, essential items for the astronauts and hardware to the space station.
Cygnus will also carry messages of hope and perseverance from more than 13,000 students from 74 schools worldwide.
ISS Associate program scientist Heidi Parris said research in the orbiting laboratory can help improve life on Earth and helps further space exploration.
“It enables scientists from around the world to really redefine the boundaries of their discipline by imagining what would be possible if you take gravity out of the situation,” Parris said.
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Among the science experiments is the final part in the Saffire (Spacecraft Fire Experiments) series, which is dedicated to understanding how fire behaves in space.
“The Saffire experiments provide a critical benchmark for validating our models of how fire affects spacecraft habitability,” Saffire principal investigator David Urban said in a statement. “This work has already changed our understanding of material flammability in low gravity and demonstrated that just as on Earth, smoke from a fire represents the most immediate hazard to the crew.”
If the launch goes on Tuesday night, the cargo craft will be captured at the space station on Friday morning. The spacecraft is set to stay on the ISS for about three months before NASA sets a departure date.