Northrop Grumman - Cygnus NG-14 Mission patch.
Jan. 6, 2021
At 10:10 a.m. EST, flight controllers on the ground sent commands to release the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft from the Canadarm2 robotic arm after earlier detaching Cygnus from the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.
Image above: The Cygnus space freighter is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm moments before its release completing a 93-day stay at the space station. Image Credit: NASA TV.
The Cygnus spacecraft successfully departed the International Space Station three months after arriving at the space station to deliver about 8,000 pounds of scientific experiments and supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
NG-14 S.S. Kalpana Chawla Cygnus departure
Prior to departure, the crew packed Cygnus with the Saffire V investigation and the SharkSat hosted payload to be conducted during an extended mission in orbit. On Jan. 26, Northrop Grumman flight controllers in Dulles, Virginia, will initiate Cygnus’ deorbit to perform a safe re-entry, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Related article:
Space Station, Cygnus Test Technology for 5G Communications, Other Benefits
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/01/space-station-cygnus-test-technology.html
Related links:
Saffire V: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1924
SharkSat: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8315
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/NASA TV/SciNews.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
