Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Breaks Down Before Reaching ISS

Photo Credit: NASA TV

International Space Station (ISS) astronauts might have to wait for a few essentials, as a resupplying cargo ship en route to the space outpost has hit an unexpected technical issue. Dubbed NG-18 Cygnus cargo spacecraft, built by Northrop Grumman, is taking four tons of supplies including research equipment, hardware, and food.

The cargo spacecraft took off smoothly on Monday from Virginia, but after ejecting from the rocket it hitched on a solo ride, but ran into an unexpected issue. One of its two solar arrays that power the spacecraft failed to deploy as intended.

Can The Spacecraft Complete Its Mission?

Currently, NASA has provided an update: "Northrop Grumman is gathering data on the second array deployment and is working closely with NASA."

Northrop Grumman is confident that the Cygnus spacecraft will be able to complete its mission with whatever power is left, and also stick to the schedule. The marquee space agency is currently assessing the issue and the configuration it will need to dock to the ISS.

"Northrop Grumman has reported to NASA that Cygnus has sufficient power to rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday, Nov. 9, to complete its primary mission, and NASA is assessing this and the configuration required for capture and berthing," NASA said.

Decade-old In The Business

As the name suggests, the NG-18 spacecraft is one of the 18 built and deployed in the last 10 years to carry supply missions to the ISS. The orbital outpost is also resupplied by SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Russia’s Progress spacecraft. This current version is dubbed SS Sally Ride, named after the first American woman in space.

A Cygnus spacecraft doesn’t return to Earth once it’s done resupplying the ISS. Instead, the spacecraft is intended to be expendable once its mission is complete. After berthing with the space observatory through a robotic arm, the crew aboard ISS loads the spacecraft with trash. The craft is then sent back into Earth’s atmosphere where it burns up while entering due to the pressure.

ISS Spewing Garbage Toward Earth?

In September, ISS crew member Samantha Cristoforetti took to Twitter to share a video showing how the ISS crew take out their trash. Well, it seems the process is similar to throwing trash out of the window; however, on Earth, gravity makes it land on the ground. In space, the trash turns to ashes as it enters our planet’s atmosphere at high speed.

Back in July we tested a new capability for the @Space_Station. Filled with dry trash & foam, this big trash bag was jettisoned from a depressurised airlock on the station & it burned up harmlessly in the Earth's atmosphere. #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight pic.twitter.com/o83AH5nKvh

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) September 13, 2022