Live March 22 Cygnus Launch and March 21 Prelaunch Events on NASA TV

Summary: NASA TV offers live March 22 Cygnus launch and March 21 prelaunch events in covering 2016's first supply flight to the International Space Station.

Cygnus OA 6 spacecraft, encapsulated inside its payload fairing, is moved past the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Cygnus OA 6 spacecraft is being transported to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; credit NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis: NASA News Release March 17, 2016, via NASA

NASA Television’s broadcasts of International Space Station-destined spacecraft in March 2016 includes live March 22 Cygnus launch coverage as well as March 21 prelaunch events.

Live March 22 Cygnus launch coverage begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. NASA commercial provider Orbital ATK anticipates liftoff of the Cygnus OA-6 spacecraft via a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:05 p.m. Liftoff takes place at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the center of Florida’s Atlantic coast. NASA TV’s live broadcast resumes at 12:45 a.m., Wednesday, March 23, for coverage of Cygnus OA-6’s solar array deployment.

Launch coverage closes with a post-launch news conference that takes place approximately two hours after launch. The news conference currently is set for 1 a.m., Wednesday, March 23. NASA TV’s program schedule notes that the time is subject to change. The news briefing’s three-member panel consists of Kenneth Todd, the International Space Station Program’s operations integration manager; Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group; and Vern Thorp, program manager for NASA missions at United Launch Alliance.

On Monday, March 21, the day before the live March 22 Cygnus launch coverage, NASA TV is broadcasting two prelaunch events. Both prelaunch briefings take place at the Press Site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Merritt Island, Florida.

At 12:30 p.m., “What’s On Board” presents a science and technology briefing of Cygnus OA-6’s cargo by researchers and scientists. The briefing’s panel consists of six members.

Pete Hasbrook, associate program scientist for the International Space Station Program, is based at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Michael Roberts, deputy chief scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.

Gary Ruff, project manager and co-investigator of the Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project (Saffire), is based at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Aaron Parness, leader of the Extreme Environment Robots Group and principal investigator of Gecko Grippers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is based in Pasadena, California.

Andrew Rush, chief executive officer (CEO) of Made in Space Inc., is based at the additive manufacturer’s operations office in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dr. Kristen John, deputy project manager and co-investigator of Strata-1 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, is based in Houston, Texas.

The Cygnus OA-6 spacecraft’s cargo includes new experiments to be conducted by the International Space Station’s current Expedition 47 as well as by succeeding Expedition 48. As one of the new experiments, Strata-1 aims to investigate the behavior and properties of loose surface material, known as regolith, on such small, airless bodies as asteroids, comets and the Moon. NASA’s Johnson Space Center, University of Central Florida in Orlando, Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and University of Colorado in Boulder are developers of Strata-1.

The Meteor Composition Determination experiment serves as the first project to conduct space-based observations of the chemical composition of meteors as they enter into Earth’s atmosphere. The meteor experiment uses a software program to search for bright spots in its high-resolution video and images of Earth’s atmosphere. Chiba Institute of Technology in Narashino, Japan, is the developer of the meteor experiment. Michael Fortenberry at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, is the experiment’s principal investigator.

Developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Gecko Gripper experiment tests an on-command adhesive gripping device in space’s harsh environment. Anticipated future applications of the Gecko Gripper technology include enabling walks by robotic crawlers along spacecraft exteriors.

A prelaunch news briefing offered by mission managers follows the science and technology briefing at 2:30 p.m. The prelaunch news briefing’s panel consists of six members.

Kenneth Todd is International Space Station Program’s operations integration manager.

Frank Culbertson is president of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group.

Vern Thorp is United Launch Alliance’s program manager for NASA missions.

Pete Hasbrook is assistant program scientist with the International Space Station Program.

Dr. Michael Roberts is deputy chief scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).

Laura Godoy is launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County, Florida.

The live March 22 Cygnus launch documents the fifth mission and sixth planned flight to the International Space Station under Orbital ATK’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. Consistent with Orbital ATK’s practice of naming Cygnus spacecraft after deceased astronauts, Cygnus OA-6 memorializes Rick Douglas Husband, commander of the seven-member crew of the Columbia shuttle that distintegrated during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003.

NASA TV may be accessed at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

The March 22 Cygnus launch takes place at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: ULA @ulalaunch, via Twitter March 18, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Cygnus OA 6 spacecraft, encapsulated inside its payload fairing, is moved past the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Cygnus OA 6 spacecraft is being transported to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; credit NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis: NASA News Release March 17, 2016, Public Domain, via NASA @ http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-tv-coverage-set-for-fifth-orbital-atk-resupply-mission-to-space-station-0

The March 22 Cygnus launch takes place at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station: ULA @ulalaunch, via Twitter March 18, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/710877278545256448

For further information:

“Orbital ATK CRS-6 Briefings and Events.” NASA.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/content/orbital-atk-crs-6-briefings-and-events

SpaceFlight Insider - Official Page. “OA 6 Mission Overview.” YouTube. March 10, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJX2d5K8fg4

ULA @ulalaunch. "Launch alert! March 22: ULA's #AtlasV to launch @OrbitalATK's #Cygnus to the #ISS!" Twitter. March 18, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ulalaunch/status/710877278545256448