Cygnus NG-15

Cygnus NG-15, previously known as CRS OA-15, is the fifteenth planned flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its fourteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The mission is planned to launch on 20 February 2021 at 17:36 UTC.[1] This is the fourth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.[2]

Cygnus NG-15
NamesCRS OA-15
Mission typeISS resupply
OperatorNASA
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftS. S. Katherine Johnson
Spacecraft typeEnhanced Cygnus
ManufacturerNorthrop Grumman Innovation Systems
Thales Alenia Space
Start of mission
Launch date20 February 2021, 17:36:22 UTC (planned)
RocketAntares 230+
Launch siteMARS, LP-0A
ContractorNorthrop Grumman Innovation Systems
End of mission
DisposalDeorbited (planned)
Decay date2021 (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Berthing at International Space Station
Berthing portHarmony or Unity
RMS capture22 February 2021 09:30 UTC(planned)
Berthing date22 February 2021 11:00 UTC (planned)

NASA Cygnus NG-15 mission patch
 

Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) and NASA jointly developed a new space transportation system to provide commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, Orbital ATK designed, acquired, built, and assembled these components: Antares, a medium-class launch vehicle; Cygnus, an advanced spacecraft using a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) provided by industrial partner Thales Alenia Space of Turin, Italy, and a Service Module based on the Orbital GEOStar satellite bus.[3]

History

Cygnus NG-15 is the fourth Cygnus mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract.

Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft are performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles, Virginia and Houston, Texas.[3]

Spacecraft
Main article: Cygnus (spacecraft)

This will be the tenth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.[4]

On 1 February, 2021, the start of Black History Month, Northrop Grumman announced the name of Katherine Johnson as the name of the Cygnus spacecraft.[5]

Manifest

Cygnus spacecraft is loaded with 0 kg (0 lb) of research, hardware, and crew supplies.[6][7]

  • Crew supplies: 0 kg (0 lb)
  • Science investigations: 0 kg (0 lb)
  • Spacewalk equipment: 0 kg (0 lb)
  • Vehicle hardware: 0 kg (0 lb)
  • Computer resources: 0 kg (0 lb)

ELaNa 33, Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, will deploy the following CubeSats from ISS:[8]

A number of CubeSats will be released via Slingshot and Nanoracks deployers, including Dhabisat, the second CubeSat developed by Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Dhabisat was developed as part of Khalifa's Space Systems and Technology Concentration, a joint program established in 2015 with UAE-based satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) and Northrop Grumman.

Launching aboard Antares with Cygnus will be 42 ThinSats as part of a STEM outreach program for grades 4-12 by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. Once its mission has been completed, Cygnus will perform a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.[9]

Research

The new experiments arriving at the orbiting laboratory will inspire future scientists and explorers, and provide valuable insight for researchers. Research investigations on board the Cygnus NG-15 mission include:[7]

  • Muscle Strength an experiment using worms.
  • Artificial Retina Production an experiment how microgravity may assist.
  • SpaceBorne Computer-2 an experiment from Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

See also

References
  2. Gebhardt, Chris (1 June 2018). "Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS-2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. "Cygnus Spacecraft". Northrop Grumman. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  4. Leone, Dan (17 August 2015). "NASA Orders Two More ISS Cargo Missions From Orbital ATK". spacenews.com. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. "Northrop Grumman names NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft in honor of Katherine Johnson". The Herald-Dispatch. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. "Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply". ISS Program Office. NASA. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Howell, Elizabeth (1 February 2021). "Northrop Grumman to launch next Cygnus cargo ship for NASA on Feb. 20". space.com. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  8. "Upcoming ELaNa CubeSat Launches". NASA. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. Staff writers. "Cygnus NG-15 Mission" (PDF). Northrop Grumman. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
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