Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft makes its way to orbit

Cygnus is named in honor of astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first woman of Indian descent to go to space. She lost her life during the STS-107 mission when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering the Earth's atmosphere.

NASA commercial cargo provider Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, dubbed the S.S. Kalpana Chawla, lifted off today at 9:16 p.m. EDT from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The launch comes a day after the mission's October 1 attempt was scrubbed at roughly 2 minutes, 40 seconds prior to liftoff mark due to a problem with ground support equipment.

3.. 2.. 1.. liftoff. 🚀@NorthropGrumman's Antares rocket & Cygnus spacecraft launch from @NASA_Wallops. This Cygnus, named the S.S. Kalpana Chawla, will deliver ~8,000 pounds of @ISS_Research and supplies to @Space_Station. pic.twitter.com/W1WIOd5KIA

— NASA (@NASA) October 3, 2020

This is Northrop Grumman's 14th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA that will deliver almost 8,000 pounds of cargo including crew supplies, scientific research and hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support Expedition 63 and Expedition 64 crew.

The payloads included in the mission are- a new, compact toilet for the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), a new crop of vegetables (radishes) to cultivate, research on cancer treatments and a 360-degree virtual reality (VR) camera to withstand the extreme conditions of space and for filming spacewalks. NASA says advances in these areas will help to keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space missions and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

The CRS-14 Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the space station early Monday, October 5 where NASA astronaut and Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy will grapple it and Roscosmos astronaut and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner will act as a backup. The spacecraft will remain at the space station until mid-December.

Cygnus is named in honor of astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first woman of Indian descent to go to space. She lost her life during the STS-107 mission when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering the Earth's atmosphere.