Giant Freight Spaceship Experiences Mishap During Initial Voyage to the International Space Station
The launch of Northrop Grumman's 'Big Boy' Cygnus XL spacecraft on Sunday marked a significant milestone in the company's ongoing commercial resupply contract with NASA. However, the mission has faced some challenges.
During its launch, 'Big Boy' experienced a late entry to burn sequencing, causing it to miss its first burn. This issue was resolved during the launch, but it set the stage for further complications.
The Cygnus XL vehicle, a larger version of Northrop Grumman's solar-powered spacecraft, was carrying 11,000 pounds of science investigations, food, supplies, and equipment. The spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS), but an engine issue during two burns designed to raise its orbit has interrupted this process.
The targeted altitude burn (TB1) was rescheduled but aborted shortly after the engine ignited due to a slightly low initial pressure state. As a result, the Cygnus cargo ship will no longer arrive at the ISS as scheduled.
NASA and Northrop Grumman are currently reviewing a new arrival date and time for the Cygnus cargo ship. Despite the initial issues, 'Big Boy' ended up at the space station during its original arrival time, demonstrating its ability to recover from problems.
This is not the first time Northrop Grumman's cargo ships have faced difficulties. Last year, another of the company's cargo ships encountered problems with a targeted altitude burn (TB1) due to a late entry to burn sequencing. In the past, another of Northrop Grumman's cargo ships had trouble while attempting to rendezvous with the ISS.
Despite these setbacks, the heftier version of the Cygnus cargo ship, 'Big Boy,' was able to carry the heaviest load of supplies ever delivered to the ISS. Unlike SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship, Cygnus requires the Canadarm2 robotic arm attached to the ISS to grab it. Once captured, the Cygnus cargo ship will be installed on the Unity module's Earth-facing port.
The organization responsible for the Cygnus XL spacecraft is Northrop Grumman. This mission marks the company's 23rd cargo shipment to the ISS as part of its multi-billion dollar commercial resupply contract with NASA. The success of 'Big Boy' underscores Northrop Grumman's commitment to delivering critical supplies to the ISS and supporting NASA's mission of exploration and scientific discovery.
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