A US shipment of much-needed groceries and other astronaut supplies on Sunday rocketed toward the International Space Station for the first time in months, reigniting NASA’s commercial delivery service.
If the Orbital ATK capsule arrives at the space station tomorrow as planned, it will represent the first US delivery since spring.
“Santa is on his way,” rocket maker United Launch Alliance president Tory Bruno said via Twitter. More than anyone, perhaps, the six space station astronauts were thrilled following all the weather-related delays. They managed to photograph the rising rocket from their windows as both craft sailed over the Atlantic.
Photo: AP
“Caught something good on the horizon,” commander Scott Kelly said in a tweet.
To NASA’s relief, the weather cooperated after three days of high wind and cloudy skies that kept the Atlas V rocket firmly on the ground. Everything came together on the fourth launch attempt, allowing the unmanned Atlas to blast off with 3.36 tonnes of space station cargo, not to mention some Christmas presents for the awaiting crew.
Just before liftoff, Bruno urged: “Everyone cross your fingers and think happy weather thoughts.”
It apparently worked.
The Atlas soared through clouds and, 21 minutes later, ended up placing the Cygnus cargo carrier in the perfect orbit. Ecstatic launch controllers applauded, shook hands and hugged one another.
“We’re real happy to be back in space,” Orbital’s space systems group president Frank Culbertson said.
United Launch Alliance manager Vernon Thorp could not help but notice all the number fours in Sunday’s launch equation. Liftoff occurred at 4:44pm on the fourth launch attempt, and Orbital’s designation for the mission was number four.
“I guess the numbers just all lined up right today,” Thorp said.
The space station astronauts — two of them, including Kelly, deep into a one-year mission — have gone without US shipments since April. Two private companies contracted for more than US$3.5 billion by NASA to replenish the 250km-high lab are stuck on Earth with grounded rockets. Orbital ATK bought the United Launch Alliance’s rocket, the veteran Atlas V, for this supply mission.
Orbital’s previous supply run, its fourth, ended in a fiery explosion seconds after liftoff in October last year. SpaceX, the other supplier, suffered a launch failure in June on its eighth trip.
Russia also lost a supply ship earlier this year, but it has another resupply mission scheduled just before Christmas; Japan has also made a contribution.
Much-needed food is inside Orbital’s cargo carrier, named Cygnus after the swan constellation.
NASA likes to have a six-month food supply aboard the space station, but it is low because of the three failed flights. Space station program manager Kirk Shireman expects it would take another year to get the pantry full again — provided there are no further accidents.
Also aboard the newest Cygnus capsule are clothes, toiletries, spacewalking gear, air-supply tanks and science experiments.
This is the first time that the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V has served the space station. Normally used for satellite launches, it is the successor to the Atlas used to put John Glenn into orbit in 1962. Boeing intends to use the Atlas V to boost the Starliner capsules it is building to ferry astronauts to the space station beginning in 2017.
Orbital plans to use another Atlas rocket for a supply run in March, then return its own Antares rocket to flight from Virginia in May.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS