Northrop Grumman ready for next ISS supply run

Northrop Grumman is set to launch the company's 15th resupply mission (NG-15) to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service-2 contract. The NG-15 mission's Cygnus spacecraft will launch aboard the company's Antares rocket with nearly 8,000 pounds of scientific research, supplies and hardware for the crew aboard the station.

Liftoff of the Antares rocket is scheduled for Feb. 20 at 12:36 p.m. EST from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

Northrop Grumman names each Cygnus spacecraft in honor of individuals who have made substantial contributions to the United States' commercial space program and human space flight. The NG-15 mission commemorates Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician and Black woman who not only broke through barriers of gender and race, but delivered calculations that were critical to the success of numerous human spaceflight missions.

The "S.S. Katherine Johnson" will remain attached to the space station for approximately three months before departing with up to 8,200 pounds (approximately 3,720 kilograms) of disposal cargo.

During the NG-15 mission, Cygnus will once again act as a science platform in low Earth orbit for a variety of customers. After departing from the station, the spacecraft will deploy a number of CubeSats via a Slingshot deployer and a Nanoracks deployer, 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 in collaboration with UAE-based satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) and Northrop Grumman.

For this mission, Antares is also carrying 30 secondary payloads called ThinSats. The ThinSats program is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach program sponsored by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority for grades 4-12. These satellites were built by students from 70 schools located in 9 states (Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia).

Details about the mission and its unique cargo, and more information about Katherine Johnson are available on Northrop Grumman's NG-15 Mission Page.

Related Links
Antares
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Several tech payloads from ISS National Lab on Northrop Grumman CRS-15
KSC FL (SPX) Feb 18, 2021
On Saturday, February 20, no earlier than 12:36 p.m. EST, Northrop Grumman is scheduled to launch its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket to the International Space Station (ISS), marking its 15th mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. The launch, which will take place from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will deliver thousands of pounds of critical supplies and research to the space station. Moreover, many of the payloads on this mission showcase the diver ... read more