ISS resupply run delayed by Hurricane Nicole

ISS resupply run delayed by Hurricane Nicole

An uncrewed resupply mission to the International Space Station has been rescheduled to Monday, November 21, 2022, at the earliest. Like the upcoming launch of the Artemis 1 moon mission – currently delayed to November 16 – the liftoff is delayed due to Hurricane Nicole. NASA said:

The date adjustment is due to the arrival of Hurricane Nicole near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission teams will continue to monitor any additional potential impacts as the storm progresses.

The mission marks the 26th commercial resupply of the station. It will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 lift vehicle. An uncrewed Dragon capsule will carry the cargo.

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Expedition 68 unpacking the S.S. Sally Ride

Currently, the crew of Expedition 68 is busy aboard ISS unpacking cargo from the arrival of Cygnus-18, an uncrewed Northrop Grumman craft that arrived at the station on Wednesday (November 9). NASA reported:

The Cygnus space freighter from Northrop Grumman is open for business after its successful robotic capture and installation to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port on Wednesday morning. NASA Flight Engineers Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada were the first to open Cygnus’ hatch and enter the cargo craft several hours after leak and pressure checks with the vehicle. On Thursday, the duo retrieved science freezers containing research samples from inside Cygnus and installed them on EXPRESS racks inside the space station.

The Cygnus craft was named the S.S. Sally Ride in honor of the first American woman in space. The Ride experienced a minor issue with the deployment of its solar arrays, but arrived safely and on time at ISS.

Also carried on the Ride is new hardware to keep the lights on at the space station. Next week, NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will take a stroll outside to install holders for a new set of solar arrays, the agency said:

Cassada and Rubio will take the new gear, or power augmentation modification kits, outside in the vacuum of space on Nov. 15 and attach it to the starboard truss segment where half of the station’s main solar arrays are located. The new mod kits work will enable the installation of new rollout solar arrays during a pair of spacewalks planned for November 28 and December 1, augmenting the orbiting lab’s power generation system.

Bottom line: Launch of a resupply run to the ISS has been delayed until Monday, November 21, 2022, at the earliest.