Cygnus OA-6 (CRS5) - Atlas V 401 (AV-064) - Canaveral SLC-41 - 23.03.2016 03:05 UTC

[Alex_II]

Pirat5 пишет:
плохо то, что наука в это время будет "курить": все силы пойдут на разгрузочные работы.

Мда... Это ж одной только разгрузки больше чем по тонне на нос... А ведь еще погрузка...

[silentpom]

Требуется грузчик.

[Димитър]

Дык про старт Союза на 19 марта забыл! Сразу 3 грузчика прибудут как раз вовремя. 

[Salo]

  James Dean Подлинная учетная запись ‏@flatoday_jdean
At LC41, @OrbitalATK OA-6 #Cygnus has been mated to @ulalaunch Atlas V for Cape Canaveral launch around 11pm March 22.
 7:51 - 14 марта 2016 г.

James Dean Подлинная учетная запись ‏@flatoday_jdean
OA-6 Cygnus rolled from KSC to LC41 this morning for mate to @ulalaunch Atlas V ahead of March 22 launch.
 5:43 - 14 марта 2016 г.

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/14/atlas-5-rocket-and-cygnus-freighter-mated-for-next-weeks-cargo-launch/

Atlas 5 rocket and Cygnus freighter mated for next week's cargo launch       
Posted on March 14, 2016 by Justin Ray

File photo of Cygnus lift atop an Atlas 5. Credit: NASA-KSC
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bound for the International Space Station with a max load of fresh supplies, a commercially-operated cargo ship was mounted atop its booster rocket today for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on March 22.
The Cygnus, produced by Orbital ATK, is filled with nearly four tons of food, equipment and science hardware for the station and its residents.
The craft will be lofted into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for a three-day trek to the station. Liftoff on March 22 will be possible during a 30-minute window opening at 11:05:48 p.m. EDT (0305:48 GMT).
"This will be the second launch for the Atlas to support the International Space Station program. We are very excited to support this particular mission," said Si Song, ULA's Atlas 5 spacecraft integration lead.
"We will launch at T-0 and about 21 minutes after launch we will separate the spacecraft."
In preparation for the flight, Cygnus was moved from its fueling depot at Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to the Atlas rocket's assembly building at the Cape's Complex 41 early this morning.
A heavy-duty crane lifted the vessel, already shrouded in the rocket's 14-foot-diameter, 45-foot-long aluminum nose cone, into the Vertical Integration Facility for mating to the Centaur upper stage.
The finished product is a rocket that stands 194 feet tall. A mobile launching platform will roll the vehicle out to the pad next Monday.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno conducted his President's Mission Readiness Review last week that examined hardware pedigrees, technical issues on that bird and all sibling hardware, quality data and independent review, he tweeted.

The most recent Cygnus at the space station. Credit: Astronaut Tim Copra
 
Cygnus is headed to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program that hired Orbital ATK to carry cargo to the outpost from U.S. soil after retirement of the space shuttles.
This is Orbital ATK's sixth Cygnus built, the fifth operational mission to launch and the second in three months.
"We had a very successful OA-4 mission. We launched that in December and just de-orbited that and here we are, ready to launch the next one," said Dan Tani, former space shuttle and station astronaut and now the senior director for mission and cargo operations at Orbital ATK.
The cylindrical freighter is carrying:
-Crew supplies: 2,511 pounds
 -Vehicle hardware: 2,443 pounds
 -Science utilization: 1,713 pounds
 -EVA gear: 346 pounds
 -Computer resources: 216 pounds
The hatch on Cygnus was closed for flight on March 6.
"Once this Cygnus gets encapsulated (March 9), we are pretty much hands off our vehicle until we make contact with it in orbit and command the on-orbit initialization," Tani said.
The Cygnus will have three favorable launch opportunities — March 22, 23 and 24 — before facing a series of scheduling conflicts with a Russian Progress and SpaceX Dragon slated to launch at the end of March and early April for the International Space Station.
"If we launch on the 22nd or 23rd (of March), our first two launch opportunities, both of those days will get us to the ISS on the 26th. If we go to the 24th, we'll get there on the 28th. Then things get difficult on the space station," Tani said.
"We've been in conversation with them about what our options are and how they can be a little flexible. Of course it is in their best interest to get us docked and unloaded. So we are looking at 22nd, 23rd, 24th to get off, then we'll cross that bridge if we get to it."
The Atlas 5 rocket's remarkable string of 26 consecutive missions to launch on the first attempt after being fueled was snapped in December. The Cygnus deployment encountered three straight scrubs due to foul weather conditions.

See earlier Cygnus OA-6 coverage.

[triage]

Интересно откуда развесовку для статьи взяли, тут пока нету

 http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/media-accreditation-open-for-next-commercial-space-station-cargo-mission
Jan. 30, 2016
...
Science payloads heading to the space station on this launch include:

[/li]
• the second generation of a portable onboard printer to demonstrate 3-D printing;
• an instrument for first space-based observations of the chemical composition of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere; and
• an experiment to ignite and study a large-scale fire inside an empty Cygnus resupply vehicle after it leaves the space station and before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere to improving understanding of fire growth in microgravity and safeguarding future space missions.
  

 http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2016/03/11/3-d-manufacturing-space-improve-supply-mission/81524506/
...
Space-based manufacturing
In addition to transporting food and supplies for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Cygnus is transporting what is known as an "additive manufacturing facility," or AMF — a system using 3-D printing technology to allow the station crew to make needed parts and tools.
"The ability to manufacture on the ISS enables on-demand repair and production capability, as well as essential research for manufacturing on long-term missions," NASA said in its summary of the project. "AMF allows for immediate repair of essential components, upgrades of existing hardware, installation of new hardware that is manufactured, and the manufacturing capability to support commercial interests on the ISS."
Additive manufacturing is the process of efficiently building a part layer-by-layer, leading to reduced cost, mass, labor and production time.
"The ISS crew would be able to utilize the AMF to perform station maintenance, build tools, and repair sections of the station in case of an emergency," NASA said.
NASA said AMF will be a "permanent manufacturing facility" on the space station that can be upgraded in the future to add new functions and manufacturing methods.
Developed by California-based Made in Space, the AMF equipment is about twice the size as a 3-D printer previously delivered to the space station.
Made in Space's co-founder and chief technology officer, Jason Dunn, is a 2009 graduate of the University of Central Florida.

New approach to meteor research
One of the major new experiments coming to the space station involves meteor research that NASA says will be "important to our understanding of how the planets developed."
NASA said the Meteor Composition Determination experiment will mark the first space-based observations of the chemical composition of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere.
"Meteors are relatively rare, and are difficult to monitor from the ground because of the interference created by Earth's atmosphere," NASA said in its summary of the experiment. "The meteor investigation takes high-resolution video and images of the atmosphere, and uses a software program to search for bright spots, which can later be analyzed on the ground."
The experiment — which will be underway for two years, primarily during the peak periods of major meteor showers — will record spectral measurements which can reveal meteors' chemical makeup.
The experiment was developed by Chiba Institute of Technology in Narashino, Japan.
.....

И про полезную нагрузку еще здесь

 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/crs6_science
March 9, 2016
Sticky, Stony and Sizzling Science Launching to Space Station

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/15/photos-atlas-5-rocket-assembled-for-space-station-launch/

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket assembled for space station resupply launch       
Posted on March 15, 2016 by Justin Ray
          
Relive the steps to stack the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral's Vertical Integration Facility for the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter for the International Space Station. The first stage was erected on Feb. 22, followed by the combined interstage and Centaur upper stage on Feb. 26, then the encapsulated payload on March 14.
Photos: NASA-KSC

[Salo]

[triage]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/orbital_media_resources.html http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orbital_atk_crs-6_mission_overview-1.pdf

[Salo]

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/16/scientists-to-start-fire-in-discarded-spacecraft-for-weightless-flames-study/

Scientists to start fire in discarded spacecraft to study flames in weightless       
Posted on March 16, 2016 by Justin Ray

The SAFFIRE mission logo. Credit: NASA
 
CAPE CANAVERAL — Working via remote control this spring, scientists will spark a fire aboard the unmanned Cygnus cargo ship that launches next Tuesday to study how the deliberate flames spread in weightlessness.
Aptly named the Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or SAFFIRE, the blaze will be contained within an instrumented research box — measuring 35 by 52 inches (3 by 4.4 feet) — that is strapped into the commercial freighter for the first-of-its-kind test.
The Cygnus, made by Orbital ATK, will be launched from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday night at 11:05 p.m. EDT (0305 GMT) atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for a two-month spaceflight.
The craft is carrying over 7,000 pounds of food, goods and science gear to the International Space Station. It should arrive at the outpost next Saturday for a 55-day stay.
The SAFFIRE experiment will remain stashed inside Cygnus and then conducted after the supply ship departs the space station in May, with a load of garbage, and before the vessel re-enters the atmosphere 8 days later.
"The SAFFIRE experiment will ignite some sample material and the primary objective is to film the progression of the flame — a fire-time ever in such a large scale," said Dan Tani, former space shuttle and station astronaut and now the senior director for mission and cargo operations at Orbital ATK.
"We do combustion experiments on the space station, but the constraints on that experiment are 'don't kill the crew.' So all the safety constraints require all the experiments to be very small samples. Here we are, able to do a large sample flame propagation experiment."
Being able to light space fires for meaningful research has stymied scientists for decades due to the hazards involved in conducting tests large enough in a manned spacecraft. Cygnus freighters, however, offer ideal platforms to carry out tests after the cargo-delivery missions are completed and before re-entering the atmosphere for disposal.

The SAFFIRE experiment. Credit: NASA
 
The research is aimed at better understanding how fires in the cabin atmosphere will behave in weightlessness, quantify the risk, develop fire safety for future spacecraft and define the right types of fire detection, suppression and protection for astronauts trying to fight a blaze.
"The purpose for SAFFIRE is to address fire safety on exploration vehicles and habitats," said Gary Ruff, project manager and co-investigator for SAFFIRE at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
"The specific goals of the SAFFIRE experiments are to investigate the spread of a large-scale fire in microgravity, essentially trying to answer the questions of how large does a fire get and how rapidly does it spread, or how long does it take to get to the point of being really hazardous to the crew."
NASA intends to run SAFFIRE experiments on three consecutive Cygnus spacecraft launching through the end of this year. The SAFFIRE 1 and 3 tests will use single samples 15.7 inches wide by 37 inches tall to watch the development and spread of a large-scale low-gravity fire. Scientists want to know if there is a limiting flame size and to quantify the size and growth rate of flames over large surfaces.
"SAFFIRE is a box with a wind tunnel in it, a flow duct, that contains the sample that will be burned," said Ruff.
With two cameras poised to capture the fire, a hot wire along the upstream edge of the fiberglass-cotton fabric sample will trigger the burn that should last at least 15 or 20 minutes.
On SAFFIRE 2 later this summer, nine smaller samples, each measuring 2 inches wide x 10 inches long, will be burned sequentially to investigate the in-space "maximum oxygen concentration" flammability limits to determine if the flame propagates or self-extinguishes.
Prior space combustion experiments have been limited to samples no larger than 4 inches in length and width.

The SAFFIRE container in Cygnus. Credit: NASA
 
SAFFIRE instruments will measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, heat, pressure and flame growth, and two video cameras provide views of the flame. After the fire is started, the entire burn of each sample is recorded, then the data is compressed and downlinked to Earth. Cygnus will remain in orbit for several days to beam all the data to the ground.
"We will be evaluating the data...and getting ready for SAFFIRE 2 that will launch at the end of June," Ruff said.

[silentpom]

вот так внезапно гадкий утенок превращается в прекрасного лебедя самый осмысленный грузовик

[triage]

Наверное таким громким заголовкам про пожар в космосе способствовало это видео

  
Published on Sep 11, 2015
NASA Glenn is leading an experiment that seeks to understand how fire spreads in a microgravity environment. Saffire I, II, and III will launch separately in 2016 aboard resupply missions to the ISS. But they will not be unloaded and after the Orbital/ATK Cygnus pulls far away fr om the space station, the experiments will begin. This animation explains how it all works.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/fire-in-the-hole-studying-how-flames-grow-in-space
March 3, 2016
Understanding how fire spreads in a microgravity environment is critical to the safety of astronauts who live and work in space. And while NASA has conducted studies aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station, risks to the crew have forced these experiments to be limited in size and scope.

Now a new experiment, designed, built and managed at NASA's Glenn Research Center, will ignite an understanding of microgravity fire on a much larger scale. The Spacecraft Fire Experiment, known as Saffire, is a series of experiments to be launched on three different flights beginning in March.

"A spacecraft fire is one of the greatest crew safety concerns for NASA and the international space exploration community," says Gary Ruff, Saffire project manager.

Saffire will involve far larger flames than previous experiments and will investigate the way fire spreads on a variety of combustible materials. Because the experiments will be conducted away from the space station, there is no risk to the astronauts aboard.

Each Saffire experiment will be remotely operated inside a 3 x 5 foot module, split into two compartments. One side of the module is an avionics bay that contains sensors, high definition video cameras and signal processing equipment. The other side contains the hardware required to ignite a large flame and burn the fabrics and materials inside.

When the experiments begin, Saffire I and III will burn one large 16 by 37-inch piece of SIBAL cloth, which is a blend of fiberglass and cotton. This material has been studied in previous microgravity combustion experiments, although at a much smaller size. The SIBAL cloth will be burned from the bottom to see how the flame spreads. If the flame extinguishes itself, scientists will light it at the top and see what happens as the flame moves opposite to the airflow.

Saffire II, scheduled to launch in June from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will ignite a mix of nine different samples of materials used routinely on the space station including flame retardant fabrics used for astronaut clothing, station Plexiglas window samples with edge variations and structures used for storage containers and silicone composites. Each sample is two by 11 inches, the size sample NASA uses to screen materials on Earth before they are used on a spacecraft.

"Saffire seeks to answer two questions," says David Urban, principal investigator. "Will an upward spreading flame continue to grow or will microgravity lim it the size? Secondly, what fabrics and materials will catch fire and how will they burn?"

The Saffire I payload will hitch a ride on a resupply mission to the space station in an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vehicle from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When Cygnus arrives, astronauts will unload their supplies, but Saffire will remain on board Cygnus.

"Within the first day after Cygnus pulls away from the space station, we will begin the experiment, which will run autonomously once the RUN command is sent," says Steven Sinacore, deputy project manager. "It will only take a few hours to run the experiments, but Cygnus will remain in space for seven days to ensure complete data transmission back to the Saffire operations team on the ground." Eventually, Saffire, along with Cygnus, will be destroyed upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Concepts for additional Saffire missions- IV, V, VI are in development to focus more on flame spread, smoke propagation, detection and suppression of fire.

As NASA continues to send astronauts to the space station and continues the path toward a human mission to Mars, improving understanding of the structure of spacecraft fires is critical. "Saffire is all about gaining a better understanding of how fire behaves in space so NASA can develop better materials, technologies and procedures to reduce crew risk and increase space flight safety," says Ruff.

Saffire's flight systems were sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program. AES develops foundational technologies and high-priority capabilities that are the building blocks for future human space missions. AES technologies are developed using in-house capabilities and NASA's workforce while fostering public-private partnerships.


A team of scientists and engineers test the components of Saffire I (background) and Saffire II (foreground)
Credits: NASA


NASA Glenn engineer Tom Hudach wires electrical components on one of Saffire's avionics panels.
Credits: NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-pursues-burning-desire-to-study-fire-safety-in-space
......
.....
The first Saffire experiment will assess a large-scale microgravity fire using sample material that is approximately 16 inches wide and 37 inches long. Two subsequent flight experiments in 2016 consist of Saffire-II, which will assess oxygen flammability limits using samples that are 2 inches wide and 12 inches long; and Saffire-III, which will assess a second large-scale microgravity fire. Each module will be flown aboard an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vehicle during a resupply mission to the space station.

The Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project that developed the Saffire flight systems is sponsored by the Advanced Exploration Systems Division in NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The three Saffire units were built at Glenn using components fabricated in manufacturing facilities at Glenn, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M. Three additional experiment modules will be designed and built by engineers at Glenn and launched in Orbital ATK cargo vehicles beginning in 2018.

 
A team of scientists and engineers tests the components of Saffire I and Saffire II.
Credits: NASA

[Димитър]

Новости?

[triage]

Готовятся

Большая статья 

 http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/03/19/preview-cygnus-to-take-flight-tuesday-aboard-atlas-5-rocket/
....
....
This Cygnus, officially known as OA-6, is carrying 7,229 pounds of provisions to the International Space Station, not counting packing materials. The total mass with packing is 7,485 pounds.
Among the specifics:
Crew supplies: 2,511 pounds
* 169 Bulk Overwrap Bags of food
* 6 Bulk Overwrap Bags of U.S. food for Russian crew
 * Hygiene towels for Russian crew
* Printer ink and paper
Vehicle hardware: 2,443 pounds
* Multiplexer-demultiplexer circuit cards
* Charcoal, brine and bacteria filters for ECLESS
* Water sampling kit
* Toilet inserts, urine receptacle with hose, toilet paper
Science utilization: 1,713 pounds
* Canadian Space Agency: MARROW experiment to study effect of microgravity on bone marrow, Vascular Echo to monitor changes in arteries and veins during spaceflight
* European Space Agency: Airway Monitoring experiment to study nitric oxide in exhaled air aboard the International Space Station atmosphere, Astronaut's Energy Requirements for Long Term Spaceflight (ENERGY) experiment, Fluid Science Laboratory for fluid physics research in microgravity
* Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency: Cell Biology Experiment Facility 1G centrifuge, Bio Rhythms 48Hrs is an electrocardiogram to gauge long-term microgravity exposure on heart function, JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD), Exposed Facility Unit adapter with the GPS Wheel Demo
* NASA: Advanced Research Thermal Passive Exchange (ARTE) heat pipe experiment, Fluids and Combustion Facility resupply, Human Research Facility resupply, Meteor Composition Determination (METEOR) to make space-based observations of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere, Miniature Exercise Device (MED 2) demonstration, STRATA experimental facility to study behavior of regolith simulants in prolonged microgravity, personal carbon dioxide monitors, Radiation Environment Monitor, SPHERES Universal Docking Port to autonomously dock and undock the small objects, Additive Manufacturing Facility to produce parts out of thermopolymers, six NanoRacks minilab modules, Spacecraft Fire Experiment (SAFFIRE I)flame growth experiment
EVA gear: 346 pounds
* Legs, boots, arms and Hard Upper Torso for spacesuit
* Socket caddy assembly
* METOX canisters for carbon dioxide removal
* Contamination detection kit
Computer resources: 216 pounds
* New ZBook laptop and printer
* 160GB hard drive for IBM ThinkPad
* Canon XH camcorder, Ghost camera, Nikon cameras, 50mm lens, USB card reader
* Assorted cables
....
After the fire event, launching a series of tiny cubesats from Cygnus will be the next order of business.

"We will unberth from the space station, perform the SAFFIRE experiment, then we will phase away safely from the station and get into an exact orbit that the trajectory folks at NASA feel is an appropriate distance and angle away. Then we will deploy the nanosats," Tani explained.

Upon the plunge into the atmosphere over the South Pacific, one final experiment will be conducted by the Cygnus, called the Re-entry Breakup Recorder.

"It is a series of sensors and a re-entry-survivable collector, a big sphere. The crew will install that into the Cygnus. Once we depart, we will do a series of maneuvers specifically designed for REBR to give it accelerations so it understands it needs to turn itself on.

"As we do our destructive re-entry into the atmosphere, the REBR will monitor pressures and temperatures and accelerations. The survivable unit will preserve that data, and after it splashes into the ocean it will send its data via commercial satellite telephone," Tani said.

[triage]

ULA решила выложить много видео

 
Atlas V OA-6: Booster Offload

 
Atlas V OA-6: Centaur Mate

 
Atlas V OA-6: Encapsulation

 
Atlas V OA-6: Payload Mate Time Lapse

 
Atlas V OA-6: Mission Profile

[Pirat5]

ATLAS/CYGNUS OA-6 ASCENT TIMELINE
T-00:02.7 Main Engine Start
T+00:01.1 Liftoff
T+01:22.6 Mach 1
T+01:33.7 Max Q
T+04:15.5 Main Engine Cutoff
T+04:21.5 Stage Separation
T+04:31.5 Centaur Ignition
T+04:39.5 Nose Cone Jettison
T+18:09.5 Centaur Cutoff
T+20:58.5 Spacecraft Separation

[che wi]

Pirat5 пишет:
ATLAS/CYGNUS OA-6 ASCENT TIMELINE

Вроде ж ничего не изменилось по циклограмме (по сравнению с выложенным здесь).

[triage]

 ULA ‏@ulalaunch  3 ч.3 часа назад

There she is! #AtlasV with @OrbitalATK's #Cygnus rolling to the launch pad in advance of the Mar 22 launch. 

еще одно заявление Orbital ATK....  можно сказать одно и тоже только масса 3600, в pdf 3513, в pdf на сайте NASA указано 3395

 http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/release.asp?prid=130
...For the second time, Orbital ATK will launch Cygnus atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, carrying approximately 7,900 pounds (3,600 kilograms) of cargo to astronauts aboard the ISS and small satellites that will be deployed directly from Cygnus....

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/cygnus-set-to-deliver-its-largest-load-of-station-science-cargo

March 18, 2016
 Cygnus Set to Deliver Its Largest Load of Station Science, Cargo  
 

Engineers completed the stacking of the Orbital ATK CRS-6 launch vehicle when the Cygnus cargo spacecraft was bolted to the top of the Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Credits: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis
 
By Steven Siceloff,
 NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida
A new 3D printer and research projects examining everything from adhesive technologies to the behavior of large fires in space are packed inside an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft for launch Tuesday, March 22, at 11:05 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window extends for 30 minutes.
Launching atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the Cygnus, which carries no crew, will steer itself to the station during the course of three days. Astronauts and ground controllers will use the station's robotic arm to grapple Cygnus and connect it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. Cygnus will stay connected to the Earth-facing laboratory for about two months before being released to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
Much of the science will be conducted by astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they continue landmark research above Earth for the benefit of those on the Earth and future astronauts making the journey to Mars. Other science, such as the fire research and reentry data collection, will be conducted at the end of the mission and only after Cygnus drops off its materials and is flying on its own far from the station.
Named the S.S. Rick Husband in tribute to the astronaut who commanded the STS-107 mission which was lost Feb. 1, 2003, this will be the second flight of an enhanced version of Cygnus which first flew in December on a successful return to the flight for the company. Able to carry about 25 percent more volume than its predecessor, the enhanced models also feature more efficient solar arrays and other upgraded systems.
While docked to the station, Cygnus will be unloaded by astronauts who will set up the experiments and stow the fresh supplies. Altogether, the mission's cargo manifest totals more than 3 ½ tons, including experiments by government and private researchers. Two expeditions – 47 and 48 – will conduct the research in NASA's continuing drive to unlock the secrets of long-duration space exploration.
"It's like Christmas when a supply craft arrives," said Orbital ATK's Dan Tani, a former shuttle and station astronaut who is now senior director of mission cargo and operations. "It's always fun to watch another vehicle approach and then it's like opening a box of goodies and finding some stuff you've been wanting and some surprises you didn't know about."
This Cygnus will carry more to the station than any of the previous five missions, Tani said.
A few of the scientific highlights:
- Gecko Gripper, testing a mechanism similar to the tiny hairs on geckos' feet that lets them stick to surfaces using an adhesive that doesn't wear off,
- Strata-1, designed to evaluate how soil on small, airless bodies such as asteroids behaves in microgravity.
- Meteor, an instrument to evaluate from space the chemical composition of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere. The instrument is being re-flown following its loss on earlier supply missions.
- Saffire, which will set a large fire inside the Cygnus in an unprecedented study to see how large fires behave in space. The research is vital to selecting systems and designing procedures future crews of long-duration missions can use for fighting fires.
- Cygnus is carrying more than two dozen nanosatellites that will be ejected from either the spacecraft or the station at various times during the mission to evaluate a range of technology and science including Earth observations.
The station residents depend on cargo missions from Earth to supply them with daily clothes, food, water and air, along with the equipment they need to work in orbit. For instance, this mission is carrying a spacesuit for the crew and high-pressure cylinders to recharge the station's air supply.
As the Cygnus approaches the end of its time connected to the station, astronauts will pack it with trash, spent experiments and other equipment no longer needed. It will all burn up as the spacecraft blazes through the atmosphere to end the flight with a safe impact in the Pacific Ocean.  
 
Last Updated: March 18, 2016
Editor: Steven Siceloff

[triage]

Если в планах операций на МКС верно, то 23 марта 06:05-06:35 (ДМВ) - запуск Cygnus (OA-6)