#oa7

OA-7 comes to and end after successful mission.

Following a 54-day mission - including 43 berthed to the International Space Station - the Cygnus OA-7 spacecraft reentered the Earth’s atmosphere Sunday afternoon, June 11. The S.S. John Glenn, as this Cygnus spacecraft was named, brought 7,442 pounds of cargo and experiments to the orbiting outpost and launched from Cape Canaveral April 18. Arrival and berthing occurred four days later on April 22.  Although Cygnus was originally intended to remain at the station until July 16, a delay in the arrival of SpaceX’s CRS-11 mission allowed the crew’s schedule to bump up Cygnus’ departure. Expedition 51 crew members detached Cygnus and maneuvered the spacecraft to its departure position the afternoon of June 4.

Once in free flight away from the station, OA-7 released four cubesats carried in an external dispenser - the third spacecraft to do so behind OA-6 and OA-5. The third and final SAFFIRE experiment to test large-scale fires in space was powered up June 8, just three days before Cygnus’ planned reentry. OA-6 and OA-5 carried the SAFFIRE-1 and 2 experiments respectively. By the time the spacecraft was prepared to deorbit, only one experiment remained on board, the RED-Data-2 instrument. RED-Data-2 is a data recorder that analyzes the destructive reentry of the spacecraft as it breaks up in the intense heat of the Earth’s atmosphere. The 3.5-inch sphere also tested newer heat shield materials for both NASA and SpaceX. Although the sphere was not recovered, it transmitted its data as it fell through the atmosphere.

OA-7 launches to orbit with S.S. John Glenn.

Orbital ATK’s seventh Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station lifted off earlier today (April 19) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An Atlas V 401 rocket blasted off from SLC-41 at 11:11am EDT with the S.S. John Glenn Cygnus cargo freighter. Cygnus, with its 7,600 pounds of cargo, is expected to arrive at the orbiting outpost early Saturday morning, April 22. OA-7 marked the first use of United Launch Alliance’s new RapidLaunch program which enabled customers to select, process and launch their payloads to orbit within a span of just a few months. Although launch contracts typically take between 1-2 years between signing and launch, Orbital ATK saw OA-7 launch just five months after signing a contract with ULA. This was the third Cygnus spacecraft to launch from Cape Canaveral following the OA-4 and OA-6 missions in 2015 and 2016. In an interesting historical note, the S.S. John Glenn launched atop an Atlas V rocket, a descendant of the rocket family that the spacecraft’s namesake astronaut rode into orbit in 1962.

T – 9 Days: Preparation continues for the March 19th launch of the Orbital ATK Cygnus OA-7, the S.S. John Glenn from SLC-41.

Yesterday (March 8th) saw the encapsulation of the Cygnus craft within a 4-meter payload fairing at the Payload Hazardous Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, before it’s placement on top of a ULA Atlas V 401.

As is tradition with Cygnus missions, the spacecraft is named in honor of a deceased Astronaut. John H. Glenn Jr. was one of the United States’ first Astronauts, the Mercury 7, and the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20th, 1962 aboard his capsule Friendship 7. Glenn would become a Senator for Ohio in 1974, serving until 1999. In 1998, he would return to space aboard OV-103 Discovery for STS-95, becoming the oldest person to visit space, and the only Mercury 7 Astronaut to fly a shuttle mission. Glenn passed away December 8th, 2016 at the age of 95

For this mission, the Cygnus spacecraft will be carrying 7,600 pounds of supplies and scientific experiments to the International Space Station. Experiments include SAFFIRE-3 from the Glenn Research Center to study flame development in space, as well as the flight data recorder, RED-Data-2 which will record the intense conditions the spacecraft will experience on re-entry.

OA-7 is the seventh flight of Cygnus as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, and is the 4th flight of the Enhanced Cygnus, featuring a stretched Pressurized Cargo Module allowing for a larger cargo-carrying capacity. This is also the 3rd flight of Cygnus aboard an Atlas rocket.

The 30 minute launch window for OA-7 opens at 10:56 pm EDT on Sunday, March 19th.

L-64 days - OA-7 arrives at Kennedy for launch processing.