Cygnus resupply ship to leave space station next week: Watch it live!

Named after NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, the Cygnus space freighter arrived at the ISS in February 2021 and delivered nearly 8,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbital laboratory as part of the company's 15th commercial resupply services mission.


Devdiscourse News Desk | California | Updated: 23-06-2021 10:21 IST | Created: 23-06-2021 10:21 IST
Cygnus resupply ship to leave space station next week: Watch it live!
Named after NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, the Cygnus space freighter arrived at the ISS in February 2021. Image Credit: Twitter (@NASA)
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After spending more than four months at the International Space Station, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus resupply ship is all set to leave the station next week, on June 29, NASA said on Wednesday.

Named after NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, the Cygnus space freighter arrived at the ISS in February 2021 and delivered nearly 8,000 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbital laboratory as part of the company's 15th commercial resupply services mission.

Live coverage of the spacecraft's departure will begin at 12 PM EDT on NASA TV, the agency's website, and the NASA app. NASA Expedition 65 astronaut Megan McArthur will monitor the spacecraft's systems upon its departure from the station.

After departure, Cygnus will deploy two cube satellites:

  • Ionosphere Thermosphere Scanning Photometer for Ion-Neutral Studies (IT-SPINS) - It will add to researchers' fundamental understanding of Earth's Ionosphere.
  • Khalifa University Students Satellite-2 (MYSat-2) - It will train graduate students through the development and evaluation of its software.

Thereafter, Cygnus will perform a deorbit engine firing to set up a destructive re-entry in which the spacecraft, filled with waste the space station crew packed, will burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

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