Cygnus OA-8 (CRS-8 ) - Antares-230 - MARS LP-0A - 12.11.1017 12:19 UTC

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http://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/oa8-mission-page/

Mission Update: OA-8 Space Station Cargo Resupply

Launch:	November 10, 2017
Launch Site:	MARS Pad 0A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
Mission Customer:	NASA

Mission Update - August 11, 2017

Orbital ATK, at NASA's direction, is now targeting November 10 for launch of the OA-8 mission to the International Space Station, solely based on NASA's revised ISS traffic planning and cargo needs. Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Antares launch vehicle for the sixth time from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific equipment to the space station as part of Orbital ATK's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. Integration and test of the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft are complete and both were processed to support a mission as early as September of this year. Final preparations for the mission will begin in early October to support the new November 10 target launch date.

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https://www.nasa.gov/content/upcoming-elana-cubesat-launches

Upcoming ELaNa CubeSat Launches

ELaNa XIII
 Date:  NET Nov 10, 2017
 Mission:  OA-8/OA-8E – Antares, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
 2 CubeSat Missions scheduled to be deployed
 

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• ISARA – Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
• EcAMSat – NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
  

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/08/16/station-managers-push-back-next-cygnus-cargo-flight-to-november/

Station managers push back next Cygnus cargo flight to November
August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark


A photo of the Antares rocket's twin RD-181 engines installed on the rocket slated to launch Orbital ATK's next Cygnus supply ship to the International Space Station. Credit: Orbital ATK

NASA and Orbital ATK have agreed to schedule the launch of the next Cygnus supply ship for Nov. 10 from Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore, a delay of a month from the mission's earlier target launch date to allow the flight to carry more cargo to the International Space Station, officials said.

Спойлер

The new launch date also will allow time for station astronauts to complete three spacewalks in late October and early November to swap out a latching end effector on the station's Canadian-built robotic arm and complete other maintenance tasks, according to Dan Hartman, NASA's deputy space station program manager.

If the Nov. 10 date holds, liftoff of the automated cargo mission on top of an Antares rocket will occur around 8:02 a.m. EST (1302 GMT), roughly the moment Earth's rotation brings the Wallops launch base in the flight path of the space station, according to an Orbital ATK spokesperson.

"With the slip of one month, we're able to get new cargo that we need up to the station, on the order of about 400 kilograms (880 pounds)," Hartman said Sunday. "So a significant increase in the amount of mass we can take up."

Some specific items NASA wants delivered to the space station would not have been ready in time for the previous Oct. 11 launch date.

The next mission by NASA's other cargo delivery provider, SpaceX, will slip from early November to early December in the schedule shuffle. SpaceX's latest cargo flight arrived at the space station Wednesday, two days after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Orbital ATK said in a statement that the delay of the next Cygnus cargo mission, named OA-8, was decided by NASA and was "solely based on NASA's revised ISS traffic planning and cargo needs."
The flight will ferry experiments, supplies and spare parts to the space station.

"Integration and test of the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus spacecraft are complete and both were processed to support a mission as early as September of this year," Orbital ATK said. "Final preparations for the mission will begin in early October to support the new November 10 target launch date."


File photo of a Cygnus supply ship's pressurized cargo module. Credit: Orbital ATK

The mission will be the Orbital ATK's eighth operational logistics flight to the space station, and the fifth to lift off from Wallops on the company's own Antares booster. Three others flew on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral.

Hartman said the space station has plenty of supplies, and the delays of the next two U.S. cargo flights will have no impact to the research lab's operations.

"Our consumables are in very, very good shape on-board the International Space Station," Hartman said. "So the slip there will have absolutely no impact to a crew of four," he said, referring to the four astronauts from NASA and the European Space Agency who are part of the outpost's overall six-person crew.

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NASA managers recently approved a plan to conduct three spacewalks in late October and early November, Hartman said.

Astronauts will replace a latching end effector on the space station's 58-foot-long Canadian-built robotic arm during the excursions. Engineers have noticed some fraying on wires inside the end of the arm, components used to grasp cargo ships as they arrive at the space station and transfer experiments and payloads around the outside of the complex, Hartman said.

The spacewalkers will also change out lights and cameras outside the space station.

Meanwhile, Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy planned to head outside the station Thursday to release five small satellites and work on experiments on the outside of the Russian segment of the complex.

Yurchikhin will be joined by NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer for return to Earth on Sept. 2. Three fresh crew members will launch on a new Soyuz spaceship Sept. 12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A Russian Progress cargo and refueling freighter will launch Oct. 12 from Baikonur, followed by the next Orbital ATK and SpaceX resupply runs in November and December.

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-media-accreditation-for-november-space-station-cargo

Sept. 29, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-113

NASA Opens Media Accreditation for November Space Station Cargo


Media accreditation is open for the launch of the eighth Orbital ATK cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Credits: NASA

Media accreditation is open for the launch of the eighth Orbital ATK cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Orbital ATK is targeting no earlier than Nov. 10 for the liftoff of its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A.

Спойлер

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by Wednesday, Oct. 4, for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops. The application deadline is Nov. 6 for media who are U.S. citizens. Journalists should send their accreditation request to Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.

This will be the eighth planned cargo resupply mission by Orbital ATK for NASA under the agency's $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company. Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new science investigations to the only laboratory in microgravity.

For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Keith Koehler by email or at 757-824-1579.

To learn more about Orbital ATK, its Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo carrier, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
 Headquarters, Washington
 202-358-1409
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

Keith Koehler
 Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
 757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov

Trina Helquist
 Orbital ATK
 480-814-6504
trina.helquist@orbitalatk.com

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Last Updated: Sept. 29, 2017
Editor: Katherine Brown

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 50 мин. назад

The OA-8 #Cygnus is currently scheduled to launch aboard an Orbital ATK #Antares rocket from @NASA_Wallops @VCSFA_MARS Pad 0A on Nov 10

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 9 ч назад

The #OA8 #Cygnus service module is ready to ship to @NASA_Wallops! Frank Culbertson addresses employees before its departure

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 9 ч. назад

Orbital ATK engineers perform final checks on the #OA8 #Cygnus service module before packing it up for shipment to @NASA_Wallops

Спойлер

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 7 ч. назад

See you soon #Cygnus! Employees bid farewell to the OA-8 Cygnus service module as it departs our Dulles, VA Satellite Manufacturing Facility

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Пусковое окно миссии
 

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Orbital ATK @OrbitalATK  4 окт.
Fun Fact: The OA-8 #Cygnus will carry approximately 7,400 pounds of cargo to @Space_Station – the heaviest launch weight ever for #Antares

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/10/wallops-launch-base-receives-final-hardware-delivery-for-next-cygnus-mission/

Wallops launch base receives final hardware delivery for next Cygnus mission
October 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

Orbital ATK shipped the final major piece of hardware for the next Cygnus space station resupply mission to a launch base on Virginia's Eastern Shore last week as technicians began loading cargo destined for delivery to the orbiting research lab next month.

Liftoff is scheduled for Nov. 10 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a launch complex located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia.

Спойлер

The Cygnus spacecraft's service module was packed up at Orbital ATK's facility in Dulles, Virginia, before shipment to its launch base on Virginia's Eastern Shore last week. Credit: Orbital ATK

The Cygnus spacecraft's service module, which contains the ship's propulsion and power systems, arrived Oct. 4 at Wallops after a truck ride from Orbital ATK's headquarters and manufacturing plant in Dulles, Virginia.

The service module completed testing earlier this year to verify it can withstand the extreme environments of launch and spaceflight, and crews at Wallops will mate it with the Cygnus spacecraft's pressurized cargo module in the coming weeks. The cargo section, built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, and ship's Antares rocket were already at Wallops undergoing final checks.

Ground teams were preparing for a launch during the summer, but managers delayed the mission at the request of NASA, which juggles arrivals and departures of visiting vehicles at the space station. NASA wanted more time to ensure the cargo slated to fly inside the Cygnus supply ship was ready, and to give astronauts time to conduct three spacewalks this month and repair the space station's robotic arm, which is used to snag the spacecraft on final approach to the orbiting outpost.

An Orbital ATK spokesperson said specialists have also started packing cargo into the barrel-shaped logistics module, which is based on Thales's experience building cargo carriers that flew on NASA's space shuttles and on the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle.

The service module will be filled with hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide maneuvering propellant later this month, then delivered from a clean room on the mainland to Orbital ATK's Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island for attachment to an Antares booster.


The truck carrying the Cygnus service module departs Orbital ATK's headquarters in Dulles, Virginia. Credit: Orbital ATK

Once crews bolt the spacecraft to the Antares rocket, they will load time-critical cargo into supply ship, such as fresh food and experiments, then encapsulate Cygnus inside the launcher's payload shroud for rollout to pad 0A at Wallops.

The Antares rocket is set to roll out to the launch pad — owned by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority — a few days before liftoff.

Launch is currently targeted for no earlier than Nov. 10 at approximately 8:02 a.m. EST (1302 GMT), with arrival at the space station currently expected around four days later, when astronauts operating the lab's Canadian-built robotic arm will capture the automated Cygnus spaceship.

The upcoming resupply mission is named OA-8, the eighth of 11 space station cargo deliveries NASA has contracted to Orbital ATK through 2019.

The OA-8 mission is expected to haul approximately 7,400 pounds (around 3,350 kilograms) of cargo to the space station, the heaviest load ever launched by an Antares rocket.

It will be the fifth regular resupply flight to fly on an Antares rocket from Virginia, a tally that includes one launch failure. Orbital ATK also conducted a demonstration mission to the space station with an Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft in 2013, a flight not counted in the NASA cargo contract worth more than $2 billion.

Orbital ATK redesigned the Antares rocket's first stage in the wake of an October 2014 launch mishap, replacing decades-old Russian engines blamed for the failure with factory-fresh RD-181 engines, also from Russia. Two Cygnus cargo missions were launched from Cape Canaveral by United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets while the Antares rocket was grounded by failure investigation and redesign.

The Antares rocket returned to flight in October 2016, successfully launching a Cygnus cargo craft with more than 2.5 tons of supplies and experiments.

Another Cygnus mission in April also took off on an Atlas 5 from Florida, but Orbital ATK's next four cargo flights are slated to launch from Virginia on the company's own Antares rockets.

NASA and Orbital ATK have a separate contract for at least six additional resupply missions to the space station from 2019 through 2024. Officials said some of the six flights could launch aboard Antares rockets, and others on Atlas 5s.

The space agency also has station cargo transportation contracts with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp.

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 11 окт.

OA-8 launch window will open at 8:03 am ET on Nov 10. Visit our mission page for more information http://bit.ly/2y0ywjW 

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https://www.nasa.gov/social/antares-oa8-social

Oct. 12, 2017

Witness the Next Space Station Cargo Spacecraft Launch from Virginia

We are inviting social media users to apply for credentials to cover the launch for Orbital ATK's CRS-8 Cygnus cargo spacecraft launching atop their Antares Rocket, currently targeted for 8:03 a.m. EDT, November 10, from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at our Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
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Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2017
Editor: Jason Townsend

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https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/OA8-Mission-Page/Images/Mission_profile.jpg

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https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/OA8-Mission-Page/default.aspx

Mission Update: OA-8 Space Station Cargo Resupply

Launch: November 10, 2017; 8:03 a.m. EDT

Спойлер

Launch Site: MARS Pad 0A, Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia

Mission Customer: NASA

Mission Update

Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch aboard an Antares launch vehicle for the sixth time from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on November 10, 2017. Cygnus will deliver vital equipment, supplies and scientific equipment to the space station as part of Orbital ATK's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

Get live launch updates on our social media accounts: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Cargo Resupply Mission Overview

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NanoRacks‏Подлинная учетная запись @NanoRacks 12 окт.

Today our #Houston team completed the final checkout of the NR Frame 2B & other payload hardware for the upcoming @OrbitalATK #OA8 launch

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 2 ч. назад

Our #OA8 #Cygnus is being prepped for encapsulation! Stay tuned this morning for a closer look at the spacecraft & mission updates

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 1 ч. назад

Orbital ATK, at @NASA's direction, is now targeting Nov. 11, 2017 for launch of the #OA8 mission to @Space_Station http://bit.ly/2hRPQUq 

https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-room/feature-stories/oa8-mission-page/

...
Launch: November 11, 2017; 7:37 a.m. EST

Mission Update

October 18, 2017
 
Orbital ATK, at NASA's direction, is now targeting November 11 at 7:37 a.m. EST for launch of the OA-8 mission to the International Space Station, based on NASA's revised ISS traffic planning and cargo needs. The new date will enable Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft to deliver time sensitive cargo to the International Space Station on an expedited schedule.
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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 1 ч. назад

Our #OA8 #Cygnus spacecraft is named in honor of Gene Cernan, accomplished @USNavy Captain & @NASA astronaut

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Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 5 мин. назад

The #OA8 mission will deliver approx. 7,400 lbs of cargo to @Space_Station. The SS Gene Cernan will launch atop our #Antares rocket on 11/11