CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Fresh supplies are due to ship out late Tuesday for the International Space Station, where the shelves finally are getting full after a string of failed deliveries.
An unmanned Atlas V rocket is scheduled to blast off at 11:05 p.m. by the light of a nearly full moon. The launch may be visible along the entire East Coast. Ideal weather is forecast.
Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule holds nearly 8,000 pounds of food, equipment and scientific research for NASA, including a commercial-quality 3-D printer anyone can rent and experimental robotic grippers modeled after the thousands of sticky hairs on geckos’ feet.
There’s also a fire experiment that will remain on the Cygnus. Researchers will ignite a large-scale blaze, in a contained box, to see how it spreads in weightlessness. The fire will not be set until the Cygnus departs the space station in May, full of trash for a destructive re-entry.
Named after the swan constellation, the Cygnus is one of two commercial vehicles used to stock the station. Both haulers have lost shipments to rocket failures over the past 1 ½ years and are still working to catch up. A Russian shipment also ended up destroyed.