Photo courtesy of Northrup Grumman
On Monday, January 29th, update: Tuesday, January 30th SpaceX will launch Northrup-Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9. This launch will be the 20th resupply mission carried out as part of NG’s Commercial Resupply contract with NASA, and will ferry supplies for the station’s crew, equipment, as well as new scientific experiments to the orbiting outpost.
The launch is scheduled for 12:07 PM EST with an instantaneous window from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. Approximately eight minutes after launching, the booster used for this mission will return to the Cape to land at LZ-1, SpaceX’s landing facility located about 5.6 miles to the south of the launch pad.
Photo: NASA
With a capacity of about 5,000 kg, Cygnus is a pressurized multi-purpose logistics module with about 36 cubic meters of interior volume that can be loaded with supplies. Cygnus is compatible with multiple launch vehicles including Northrop Grumman’s Antares 330 and Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) currently in development, and has launched on ULA’s Atlas V, Antares vehicles and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The module is also capable of reboosting the ISS to a higher orbit, but it is not known at this time if that capability will be utilized by NG-20.
Experiments Aboard NG-20
NASA released information regarding the experiments that will be aboard Cygnus for ISS astronauts to perform:
NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS) is sending three experiments and equipment on this mission:
- MABL-A, Role of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Microgravity Induced Bone Loss, Part A: This experiment aims to study the role of mesenchymal stem cells in microgravity-induced bone loss. The results could provide a better understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms of bone loss caused by spaceflight and normal aging on Earth.
- APEX-10, Advanced Plant Experiment-10: This experiment will study plant-microbe interactions in space, which may support steps to optimize these beneficial interactions to increase plant productivity on Earth as well as in space.
- BRIC-25, Biological Research in Canisters-25: This experiment studies how microgravity affects Staphylococcus aureus, a common and concerning bacterium. The knowledge gained from this experiment could not only safeguard astronauts’ health but also improve our understanding of bacterial adaptations on Earth.
Flight Trajectory
The flight trajectory for the NG-20 mission is to the northeast. The booster will travel southwest to return to the landing zone at Cape Canaveral.
Booster 1077 History
Booster B1077 will fly its tenth mission for this flight. B1077 has successfully completed nine previous launches and landings, and was first used for the Crew-5 mission.
| Flight | Mission | Date |
| 1 | Crew-5 | 10/15/2023 |
| 2 | GPS III SV06 | 01/18/2023 |
| 3 | Inmarsat-6 F2 | 02/18/2023 |
| 4 | Starlink Group 5-10 | 03/29/2023 |
| 5 | Dragon CRS-2 SpX-28 | 06/05/2023 |
| 6 | Galaxy 37 | 08/03/2023 |
| 7 | Starlink Group 6-13 | 09/01/2023 |
| 8 | Starlink Group 6-25 | 10/30/2023 |
| 9 | Starlink Group 6-33 | 12/07/2023 |
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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