Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft departs from Space Station

Photo Credit: NASA

New Delhi: The Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft departed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, November 21 at 8:20 a.m. EST.

The Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the space station on October 16 carrying more than 5,100 pounds of food, supplies to support science experiments from around the world.

Launched on October 17, 2016 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the spaceship is the first launch of Orbital's revamped Antares rocket since a previous version exploded shortly after liftoff two years ago.

As per NASA, the Cygnus spacecraft will be detached from the Earth-facing side of the station's Unity module using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, operated by ground controllers. Robotics controllers will maneuver Cygnus into place, and then Expedition 50 robotic arm operators Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will give the command for its release.

Experiments delivered on Cygnus supported NASA and other research investigations during Expeditions 49 and 50, including studies in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science - research that impacts life on Earth.

You can watch the Live coverage of the spacecraft departure both on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The US space agency said the spacecraft will remain in orbit until Sunday, November 27, when its engines will fire twice, pushing it into Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up over the Pacific Ocean.