As just discovered, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft is now set to depart the @Space_Station at 7:05 am ET (11:05 UTC). Northrop Grumman’s robotic Cygnus ship is set to disengage from the orbiting lab at 6:05 a.m. EDT (1005) today, Tuesday 28th June 2022.
In a tweet from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA reveals the coverage of the departure of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-17 cargo craft from the International Space Station, the robotic arm release scheduled at 7:05 a.m. EDT.
The Cygnus — named S.S. Piers Sellers, after the late NASA astronaut and climate scientist, arrived at the International Space Station on Feb. 21 with more than 8,300 pounds (3,760 kilograms) of scientific experiments and other supplies.
The freighter activated its primary engine just a few days before its scheduled departure to raise the ISS’s height. The manoeuvre was a watershed moment, demonstrating that the Cygnus spacecraft can conduct ISS reboots, which had previously been handled by robotic Russian Progress spacecraft.
On Wednesday, June 29, the S.S. Piers Sellers will restart its engine in preparation for a devastating re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Unlike SpaceX’s reusable Dragon cargo capsule, the Cygnus and Progress spacecraft burn up when their missions are completed.
The 17th Cygnus to fly to the space station was S.S. Piers Sellers. The spacecraft’s departure will come just 10 minutes after the launch of NASA’s CAPSTONE moon mission, which is set to take off aboard an Electron rocket on Tuesday at 5:55 a.m. EDT (0955 GMT).
Speaking about the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, Steve Krein, vice president, civil and commercial space, tactical space systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement that:
“This reboot of the ISS using Cygnus adds a critical capability to help maintain and support the space station,” Steve continued “It also demonstrates the enormous capability Cygnus offers the ISS and future space exploration efforts.”
Thus, fans and lovers can watch the live departure of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency; coverage begins at 5:45 a.m. EDT (0945 GMT). Follow TechGenyz for more updates.
