NASA coverage upcoming of Northrop Grumman’s 20th Cygnus cargo departure from the ISS

*Cygnus is an autonomous cargo vehicle that provides commercial cargo resupply services to the International Space Station.*

Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Friday, July 12, five and a half months after delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA and the international partners. This mission was the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA.

Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port, then maneuver the spacecraft into position for its release at 7 a.m. NASA astronaut Mike Barratt will monitor Cygnus’ systems upon its departure from the space station.

Following unberthing, the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2), stowed inside Cygnus, will take measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for the spacecraft and its contents during re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere.

The five Kentucky Re-Entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) capsules of the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2) mission are pictured on the ground, encapsulated in the ISS-KREM shell. Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) technology uses three capsules outfitted with different heat shield materials and a variety of sensors to obtain data on actual reentry conditions. KREPE-2 tests new heat shields from NASA as well as a heat shield manufactured entirely at the University of Kentucky. Image courtesy of the University of Kentucky.

Cygnus – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will be commanded to deorbit on Saturday, July 13, setting up a destructive re-entry in which the spacecraft will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

The Northrop Grumman spacecraft arrived at the space station February 1st, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Live coverage of the spacecraft’s departure will start at 6:30 a.m. EDT on the NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.