Cygnus Completes its First Mission to ISS

The Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo craft has completed its first resupply mission to the International Space Station, burning up in the Earth's atmosphere on February 19 after spending over a month docked to the station.

Cygnus was released by Canadarm2 at 11:41 a.m. Irish Time

Expedition 38 flight engineers Koichi Wakata and Mike Hopkins, working from the Cupola, used the station's 57 foot-long Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Earth facing port of the Harmony Module and manipulate it into a position for release.

Hopkins, who is making his first space flight, took control of Canadarm2, before releasing Cygnus at 11:41 a.m. Irish Time, as the station flew 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.

Now loaded with trash and other unwanted items the crew no longer needed, Wakata and Hopkins commanded Cygnus to perform a 90 second departure burn to move a safe distance away from the ISS.

Cygnus, which is named after the late Gordon C. Fullerton, performed a series of orbital maneuvers and de-orbit burns on Wednesday, before burning up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean later that evening.

With the departure of Cygnus, attention turns to the next launch of a cargo ship from US soil. The Space X Dragon capsule will make its third resupply flight to the International Space Station, with the launch of Space X-3 from Cape Canaveral on March 16.

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NASA Postpones Cygnus Launch Ahead of Trio of Spacewalks to Repair Faulty Pump Module

NASA has postponed the launch of the Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo resupply vehicle to the International Space Station, after the space agency announced that a trio of EVAs will take place outside the station during the Christmas holidays in order to repair a faulty ammonia pump which regulates space station cooling.

Rick Mastracchio tweeted a picture of his EMU

Cygnus, which is making its second visit to the station, was scheduled to launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on December 19. Atop an Antares rocket, it will now attempt launch on January 9, with launch occurring no later than January 13 2014.

This postponement will allow Expedition 38 flight engineers Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastrachio to conduct a trio of EVAs outside the orbiting complex in an effort to repair the faulty pump module. These three spacewalks will take place on December 21, 23 and 25. Each EVA will commence at 12:10 p.m. Irish Time.

 They will replace it with an existing spare that is stored on an external stowage platform. The pump is associated with one of the station's two external cooling loops, which circulate ammonia outside the station to keep both internal and external equipment cool.

This is the same pump which was repaired by Expedition 24 flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, after completing three spacewalks in 2010.

More to follow..

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Expedition 37 Trio Return to Earth After 5 and a Half Months in Space

The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft has returned to Earth, bringing a trio of astronauts and cosmonauts back home after spending the 166 days living and working aboard the International Space Station.

The Soyuz spacecraft, carrying Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikin, and Flight Engineers Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano, landed in the steppe of Kazakhstan in near perfect conditions at 02:49 Irish Time.

Before all this, the trio bid farewell to their fellow ISS crew members, before hatches between the Soyuz and the station were closed at 20:09 on Sunday night.

Soyuz TMA-09M crew members shortly after landing
credit: NASA

Earlier on that day, Expedition 37 commander Fyodor Yurchikin handed command of the International Space Station over to fellow Russian cosmonaut, Expedition 38 commander Oleg Kotov.

Watch a video of today's change of command ceremony here.

Commander Yurchikin spoke beautifully before handing the reigns over to Kotov:

"It's a great day because we have a road to home, but each day and each night we will have a dream to return here again."

The journey home began when the Soyuz undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda Service Module at 23:26, marking the official beginning of Expedition 38. What is unusual about this particular departure, is that there remains six crew members aboard the complex, instead of the usual three.

Fyodor Yuchikin Waves Goodbye
credit: NASA TV

After performing a series of de-orbit burns to take the spacecraft out of orbit and headed for a landing in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz was spotted by search and recovery forces on site, with its parachute fully deployed. A short time later the spacecraft fired its soft landing engines in what is always a spectacular sight, in order to bring the Soyuz to a final stop.

Those search and recovery forces quickly got to work in extracting Yurchikin, Parmitano and Nyberg from their spacecraft, and sat them down one by one on individual reclining chairs so they could take in the sights and sounds of mother Earth which they had been deprived of for nearly six months.

Today's landing comes just a few days after the Sochi Olympic Torch was carried out on a spacewalk by Kotov and Expedition 37/38 crew member Sergey Ryazanskiy. In fact, the Olympic Torch was one of the items which was also returned in the Soyuz earlier today.

With the return of Soyuz crew, it's full speed ahead for the Expedition 38 crew to continue the science currently being conducted 250 miles above our heads aboard the International Space Station.

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