Key NASA science, cargo head to space station

Follow us on

A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying the Cygnus resupply spacecraft has been successfully launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in the US. The spacecraft, launched on Saturday, is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) with about 7,500 pounds of science investigations and cargo after launching at 3:21 p.m. EST, according to NASA.

The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the space station at about 4:05 a.m. on Tuesday.

According to the space agency, astronaut Andrew Morgan of NASA will use the space station's robotic arm to capture Cygnus, and NASA's Jessica Meir will monitor telemetry during rendezvous, capture, and installation on the Unity module's Earth-facing port.

The spacecraft is scheduled to stay at the space station until May.

This is Northrop Grumman's 13th cargo flight to the International Space Station and an Antares rocket was used for the launch and will support dozens of new and existing investigations.

ALSO READ | NASA's Solar Orbiter blasts off to capture first look of Sun's poles

ALSO READ | NASA hiring more astronauts to explore Moon, Mars