Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. It’s carrying with it 8,200 pounds of supplies for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where it’s scheduled to dock in the early hours of Tuesday, August 6.
There had been some concern about the state of the Cygnus after news emerged that shortly after launch, it automatically canceled a scheduled engine burn due to a slightly low initial pressure reading flagged by its onboard detection system. Northrop Grumman engineers evaluated the pressure reading, confirmed it was acceptable, and then reworked the burn plan in a way that has enabled the Cygnus to keep to its planned arrival time.
NASA confirmed on Monday that the spacecraft is in a safe trajectory, and all other systems are operating normally.
NASA will live stream the arrival and docking of the Cygnus, which is on its 21st resupply mission to the orbital outpost. Read on to find out how to watch.
How to watch
NASA will begin its live stream at 1:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 6, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and the space agency’s website. We’ve embedded NASA’s video player at the top of this page for your convenience.
What to expect
While the spacecraft will appear to edge toward the ISS at a very slow pace, keep in mind that both the Cygnus and the station are actually orbiting Earth at a speed of around 17,500 mph.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will capture Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm before installing it on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
Post-docking procedure
Once securely docked, ISS astronauts will enter the spaceship to retrieve a variety of science experiments, as well as spacewalk equipment, vehicle hardware, computer resources, and food supplies.
