Cygnus Captured By ISS Crew – UPDATE

UPDATE, September 29, 3:00 pm EDT:   The installation (“berthing”) of Cygnus to its docking port was successfully achieved at 8:44 am EDT.  Cygnus was launched by Orbital’s Antares rocket on September 18.  Links to two NASA press releases heradling the berhing are at the end of this article; one includes quotes from NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Presidential Science Adviser John Holdren.

ORIGINAL STORY:  Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft was successfully captured by the International Space Station’s
robotic arm at 7:00 am Eastern Daylight Time (6:00 Central) this morning.

Capture occurred slightly ahead of schedule with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano at the controls.

Installing Cygnus onto its docking port is expected in the next couple of hours. A press conference is scheduled for 1:00 pm Eastern.
(Update, 11:55 am EDT — from Twitter, looks like they had the press conference already.  Not sure if there’s another at 1:00 or not.)


This Cygnus spacecraft is named G. David Low after the former astronaut and former Orbital executive. Low died in 2008 from colon cancer.

NASA released two press statements congratulating Orbital on its success.  The first notes that this flight “paves the way” for eight operational Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission by Orbital with a value to the company of $1.9 billion.  The second quotes NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and the President’s Science Adviser and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) offering congratulations.  Holdren said the success opens “the aperture of what we can accomplish in space through public-private partnerships and demonstrating that American innovation continues to lead the world.”