On Wednesday, September 18, 2013, Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket blasted the unmanned Cygnus capsule toward International Space Station (ISS). Its mission was to deliver essential items to the Expedition 36 crew members, including:
Cygnus successfully linked to ISS on Sunday, September 29, 2013. Astronauts used their ship’s huge robot arm to catch hold of the capsule.
Cygnus was expected to dock at ISS a week earlier, but was delayed due to inaccurate navigation data. All was fixed with a software patch. Before continuing its route, the capsule waited for a Russian spacecraft bringing three new astronauts in midweek.
Astronauts worked to install Cygnus on the space station after its early morning capture. The hatch opening was set for early Monday. VACCO is proud to have several hardware components on board Cygnus:
