Orbital-D1, also known as Orb-D1,
[ and Cygnus 1, was the first flight of the Cygnus ]cargo spacecraft
Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probe, whose missions are to conduct sci ...
developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
. It was named after the late NASA astronaut and Orbital Sciences executive G. David Low. The flight was carried out by Orbital Sciences under contract to NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
as Cygnus' demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to coordinate the development of vehicles for the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station by private companies. The program was announced on January 18, 200 ...
(COTS) program. The mission launched on 18 September 2013 at 14:58:02 UTC. Cygnus was the seventh type of spacecraft to visit the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...
(ISS), after the crewed Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз ( Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...
and Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
, and uncrewed Progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...
, ATV, HTV and Dragon 1.
Spacecraft
The Cygnus Orb-D1 mission was the first flight of the Cygnus spacecraft and used the standard configuration with a Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM),Thales Alenia Space
Thales Alenia Space () is a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. A joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (33%), the company is the largest satellite manufactur ...
, in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
Orbital named this mission's Cygnus spacecraft the '' G. David Low'' after the former NASA astronaut and Orbital employee who died of cancer on 15 March 2008.
Launch and early operations
Cygnus Orb-D1 was launched by an Antares 110 launch vehicle
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and ...
flying from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague, Virgi ...
(MARS).low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
. The launch marked the second flight of the Antares launch vehicle and the final flight of the interim Antares 110 configuration.
ISS rendezvous
Rendezvous with the ISS was originally scheduled for the fourth day of the mission. However, the rendezvous was postponed due to a computer data link problem. The exact error related to small discrepancies between the way the ISS and Cygnus each use GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
for timekeeping
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
purposes. A further delay was necessary to allow for the arrival of Soyuz TMA-10M with three new ISS crew members.
A week late, the spacecraft conducted a series of navigation, control and safety tests as it approached the station. Following the successful completion of ten test objectives, the spacecraft was cleared to make its final approach, holding below the ISS. Then, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano
Colonel Luca Parmitano (born 27 September 1976 in Paternò, Sicily) is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency (ESA). He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009.
Parmitano is also a Colonel and ...
grappled it at 11:00 UTC, on 29 September 2013, using the Canadarm2 Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
.[
]
Payload
Cygnus Orb-D1 carried of cargo to the ISS, including food and spare parts.
End of mission
On 22 October 2013, the Canadarm2 was used to unberth the Cygnus spacecraft from the nadir port of the Harmony module at 10:04 UTC. The spacecraft was then maneuvered to a release position below the station, where it was released from the RMS at 11:31 UTC. It then performed a series of separation maneuvers away from the station. The spacecraft fired its main engine to de-orbit itself on 23 October 2013 at 17:41 UTC, with reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the ...
and burning up in the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
occurring at 18:16 UTC.[ ]
Gallery
File:Cygnus PCM Arrival at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility 02.jpg, Cygnus 1 PCM arrives in Virginia on 24 August 2011
File:Antares Orb-D1 launches from Wallops (201309180011HQ).jpg, Launch of the Antares launch vehicle on 18 September 2013
File:Cygnus iss.png, Cygnus being berthed to the ISS on 29 September 2013
References
External links
Orb-D1 mission page
at Orbital.com
at Spaceflight Now
Video of the launch of Orb-D1
Video of Cygnus being berthed to the ISS
Video of the hatch to Cygnus being opened
Video of the hatch to Cygnus being closed
Video of Cygnus departing from the ISS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cygnus 000
Cygnus (spacecraft)
Spacecraft launched by Antares rockets
Spacecraft launched in 2013
Spacecraft which reentered in 2013
Supply vehicles for the International Space Station