Orbital Sciences Cygnus Cargo Craft Departs Space Station

The Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo craft named "G. David Low" has departed the International Space Station after spending nearly a month docked to the orbiting laboratory.

Cygnus, which is making its maiden voyage to the station, arrived at the ISS on September 29 carrying 1,300 pounds of cargo for the crew on board. It was docked to the station's Harmony Module by ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA Astronaut Karen Nyberg. Since then, the Expedition 37 crew living on station have been busy unloading cargo, and filling it instead with waste materials no longer needed on the ISS.

Cygnus Docked to the Harmony Module of the
International Space Station
credit: NASA

The Cygnus vehicle was unberthed from Harmony before it was released by the station's Canadarm2 at 12:31 p.m.

Cygnus will spend a short time in low-Earth Orbit before before it is de-orbited for a fiery demise over the Pacific Ocean.

The departure of Cygnus marks the beginning of a period of heavy traffic for the International Space Station. On October 28, just six days after today's events, the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle "Albert Einstein" will undock from the station's Zvezda Service Module, after spending more than four months at the orbiting complex.

Expedition 37 crew member Sergey Ryazanskiy
working in the Poisk Mini Research Module
credit: NASA

This will clear the way for the Soyuz TMA-09M crew; Commander Fyodor Yurchikin, Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano; to relocate their spacecraft from the station's Rassvet Module to the vacant docking port on Zvezda. This will allow the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to dock with Rassvet, just six hours after launch on November 7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, bringing Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, JAXA Astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio to the ISS.

As a result, there will be nine astronauts and cosmonauts aboard station for around four days, before Yurchikin, Nyberg and Parmitano will leave the International Space Station, their home for the past 5 months.

Before they leave, Expedition 37 commader Yurchikin will hand over command of the International Space Station to fellow Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov.

The trio will depart on November 11, marking the beginning of the 38th Expedition to the International Space Station.

ATV-4 Albert Einstein Docks to ISS

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle "Albert Einstein" has docked to the International Space Station ten days after launching from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The ATV docked to the station's Zvezda Service Module at 2:07 p.m. GMT while the ISS was flying 258 miles high over The Pacific Ocean. Albert Einstein is the heaviest Automated Transfer Vehicle that has ever visited the orbiting laboratory, and is loaded with 6.6 tonnes of cargo for the astronauts and operating systems aboard the orbiting complex.

ATV-4 Albert Einstein Approaches the ISS
credit: NASASpaceflight

After launch on June 5, ATV performed two rendezvous burns to refine its path to the ISS.

As ATV-4 made its way closer to the ISS, a further series of burns were performed to align the ATV with the docking port located on the Service Module. Astronauts aboard the ISS watched closely as Albert Einstein neared its way towards station, and were on hand to oversee
proceedings as the automated docking occurred.

Over the course of its time docked to Zvezda, ATV will deliver fuel, water and air to ensure the continued operation of the station. Its thruster's will also maintain the station's orbit in order to counteract the orbital decay imposed by the ATV during its time docked to the International Space Station.

Albert Einstein is expected to remain docked to the station for around six months, after which it will go through a destructive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere filled station waste and other used cargo no longer needed.

To see what it is like inside the ATV, watch this video as Expedition 26/27 Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli takes you on a tour of the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler back in 2011.

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ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" Launches to International Space Station

The European Space Agency's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, has launched on an Ariane 5 rocket bound for the International Space Station.

The Ariane 5 carrying ESA's ATV named after the German scientist Albert Einstein, launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana at 10:52 p.m. GMT.

See the launch of the ATV by clicking .

Launch of ATV-4 Albert Einstein
credit: ESA

here

Ahead of its scheduled docking to the International Space Station on June 15, the spacecraft will begin ten days of health checks and orbital manoeuvres, bringing it to an automated docking with the station's Zvezda Service Module. Before ATV docks, the Russian Progress 51 resupply will undock- freeing up the docking compartment of the Zvezda Service Module. This is why it is taking Einstein ten days to arrive at the ISS instead of its usual five day launch-to-docking profile.

 Newly-launched Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov will watch over proceedings as the ATV makes its way towards the aft end of the space station prior to its automated docking.

The objectives of this mission are to deliver 6.6 tons of cargo to the station, carrying items like water, pyjamas, toothbrushes and peanut butter for the astronauts on board, as well as other vital cargo to keep the station up and running. ATV has the largest cargo capability of all vehicles that visit the International Space Station. It is also worth noting that the Albert Einstein is the largest ATV that has ever visited the station. It is loaded with 2,380 kg of propellant in order to maintain the station's orbit over the course its time docked to the ISS. 

ATV-4 will remain docked to the station for the best part of half a year, and after about six months, it will undock from the station filled with a few tons of waste water, materials and equipment, before burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.