A little while ago, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft blasted off atop an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), part of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on Wallops Island. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to its destination. This is the mission called NG-18 or CRS NG-18 to transport supplies to the International Space Station for NASA.
This Cygnus spacecraft was named S.S. Sally Ride (1951-2012) after the late American astronaut and transports a total of about 3,700 kg (8,170 lbs.) of cargo, including 1,637 kg (3,608 lbs.) of various types of supplies for the crew, 1,077 kg (2,375 lbs.) of hardware and the rest in equipment and various components. The cargo includes various CubeSat-class nanosatellites and experiments needed for some of the scientific research carried out on the International Space Station.
BioFabrication Facility (BFF) is not a new experiment because the first version was tested on the Station in 2019 producing part of a human meniscus and many heart cells. Now the new version of this 3D bioprinter will undergo new tests with the aim of creating new human tissue for transplants. In microgravity, the quality of the tissues is better than that achieved with normal Earth gravity but the ultimate goal is to make it work at its best on Earth as well.
The Plant Habitat-03 experiment uses the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) to study the adaptations of various plants to the conditions existing in space. This also involves genetic changes to select the best plants to grow in space habitats.
OVOSPACE is a bovine cell experiment created by NASA and the Italian Space Agency to examine the effects of microgravity. The aim is to improve fertility treatments on Earth and help prepare future colonies in space.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to reach the International Space Station next Wednesday to be captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm around 10.05 AM UTC. If there are no problems, the day after the arrival of the Cygnus the crew will open the hatch and start unloading its cargo.
