Running a day late due to software problems, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo XL caught up with the international space station early Thursday, then stood while the laboratory’s robot arm clung to a grapple luminaire to conclude a successful, so extensive meeting.
The capture intervened after the engineers of Northrop Grumman adjusted the sensitivity of the main engine defect detection software which triggered prematurely closing During two meetings of appointment transfer Tuesday.
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It turned out that the main engine was healthy throughout and once the software is adjusted, the spacecraft was able to go in advance with the appointment, pulling up to a point just below the station so that the operator of the robot arm Jonny Kim, helped by Zena Cardman, could capture the ship.
“A great congratulations to the NASA and Cygnus teams for a successful launch of Cygnus, Rendez -Vous and Capture”, Kim Radio Mission Control. “Adapting and overcoming unforeseen challenges is something we do at NASA, and I’m very proud to be part of this team.”
Unlike SpaceX cargo cargo cargo cargoes and Russian progress cargoles, which make autonomous hollows in their respective ports, the cygnus was designed to be captured by the arm of the station and pulled to dock.
After having locked the Cygnus XL at 7:24 HAE, Kim transmitted arm operations to the flight controllers from the Johnson Space Center to Houston so that the ship can be fired for docking at the land -oriented port of the central unit module.
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Northrop Grumman calls his cargoes after notable figures in the space community. The Cygnus XL was appointed in honor of the Willia “Willie” McCool shuttle driver, who lost his life in 2003 Columbia Disaster.
The astronaut of the Space Station Mike Fincke, member of the 1996 astronaut class with McCool, said that he was “a gifted pilot, a devoted crew companion and a man of deep humility, his life continues to inspire us”.
“Seeing a ship bearing its name, arriving safely at the station is a reminder that its courage and kindness always run our beautiful planet Earth,” he said.
On board: more than 5 tonnes of necessary spare parts, search equipment and crew supplies, including holiday treats for the station’s crew.
“The (Cygnus) is filled with consumables, such as nitrogen, oxygen, food and toilets, and it contains a large number of spare parts that are necessary for systems like, for example, our urine processor,” said Dina Contella, assistant director of the Space Station program at the Johnson Space Center.
“We have been full of these articles since we have been short in the past year, and we would like to have a good reserve for the future,” she said.
This shortfall was caused, in part, by damage, an earlier cygnus suffered during the shipment of a subcontractor to Europe in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This vehicle is always on the ground while waiting for analysis and repairs.
The launch of Sunday of the Cygnus XL marked the inaugural flight of an improved version of the cargo, which measures approximately 5 feet more than the original, which allows it to transport around 2,600 pounds of additional cargo.
NASA pays freight delivery flights using cygnus and dragon spaces. To date, SpaceX has successfully completed 32 Dragon replenishment missions while Northrop Grumman has executed 21 successful flights, including the current mission.
Bill Spetch, responsible for the integration of operations for the space station, said that replenishing flights “and especially this great capacity that Cygnus brings and the quantity of cargo it brings us, is essential to keep us gently and do the things we need … to do the research.”
