The International Space Station’s Expedition 40 crew - TopicsExpress



          

The International Space Station’s Expedition 40 crew successfully captured Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus resupply vehicle with the station’s robotic arm at 6:36 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Controlling the 57-foot Canadarm2 from a robotics workstation inside the station’s cupola, Commander Steve Swanson, with assistance from Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, grappled Cygnus as it flew within about 32 feet of the complex. Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman joined his crewmates in the seven-windowed cupola to assist with the capture and help coordinate the activities. At the time of grapple, the orbital laboratory was soaring around 260 statute miles over northern Libya. With Cygnus now securely in the grasp of Canadarm2, the robotics officer at the Mission Control Center in Houston will remotely operate the arm to guide the cargo craft to the install position at the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. Once Cygnus is in place, Wiseman will oversee the Common Berthing Mechanism operations for first and second stage capture of the cargo ship, assuring that the vehicle is securely attached to its port with a hard mate. NASA Television coverage of berthing operations begins at 8:30 a.m. Read more: nasa.gov/content/station-crew-captures-cygnus/
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:48:26 +0000

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