Cygnus NG-21

NG-21

S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee (NG-21) spacecraft is seen being encapsulated inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing as it prepares to launch
Mission type	ISS logistics
Operator	Northrop Grumman
COSPAR ID	2024-139A
SATCAT no.	60378
Mission duration	18 hours and 54 minutes (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee
Spacecraft type	Enhanced Cygnus
Manufacturer	Northrop Grumman Thales Alenia
Start of mission
Launch date	4 August 2024, 15:02 (4 August 2024, 15:02) UTC (11:02 am EDT)
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1080.10)
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, SLC-40
Contractor	SpaceX
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	January 2025 (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.66°
Berthing at the ISS
Berthing port	Unity nadir
RMS capture	6 August 2024, 07:10 UTC (planned)
Berthing date	6 August 2024, 08:00 UTC (planned)
Cargo
Mass	3,857 kg (8,503 lb)
Pressurised	3,843 kg (8,472 lb)
Unpressurised	14 kg (31 lb)
Cygnus NG-21 Patch Commercial Resupply Services ← SpaceX CRS-30 SpaceX CRS-31 → Cygnus flights ← NG-20 NG-22 →

NG-21 is the twenty-first flight of the Cygnus, an expendable American cargo spacecraft used for International Space Station (ISS) logistics missions, that launched on 4 August 2024. It is operated by Northrop Grumman under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The spacecraft is an Enhanced Cygnus, named the S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee in honor of the NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

NG-21 is the second launch of a Cygnus spacecraft after Northrop Grumman exhausted the supply of its Antares 230+ rocket. The Antares used a Russian-built engine and Ukrainian-built first stage, and production ceased after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Northrop Grumman expects its next-generation Antares 300 rocket that does not depend on Ukrainian or Russian parts to be ready to fly NG-23. As an interim solution, Northrop Grumman contracted with its CRS competitor SpaceX to launch NG-20, 21 and 22 using its Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.

Cygnus was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, partially funded by NASA under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. To create Cygnus, Orbital paired the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by Thales Alenia Space and previously used by the Space Shuttle for ISS logistics, with a service module based on Orbital's GEOStar, a satellite bus. The larger Enhanced Cygnus was introduced in 2015. Orbital Sciences was renamed Orbital ATK in 2015 and Northrop Grumman purchased Orbital in 2018 and has continued to operate Cygnus missions.

Cygnus NG-21 is the tenth Cygnus mission under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract.

Production and integration of Cygnus spacecraft are performed in Dulles, Virginia. The Cygnus service module is mated with the pressurized cargo module at the launch site, and mission operations are conducted from control centers in Dulles, Virginia and Houston, Texas.^[1]

The NG-21 spacecraft was named S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee in memory of astronaut Francis Scobee.^[2] This will be the sixteenth flight of the Enhanced-sized Cygnus PCM.^[3][4] The launch of Cygnus NG-21 was succesfull, Falcon 9 worked well. Cygnus NG-21 but then failed two orbital maneuvres. The ship is waiting on orbit for solving of issues - probably software glitch.

The Cygnus spacecraft will be loaded with a total of 3,857 kilograms (8,503 lb) of cargo and supplies before its launch, including 3,843 kilograms (8,472 lb) of pressurised and 14 kilograms (31 lb) of unpressurised cargo.

The cargo manifest is broken down as follows:^[5]

• Crew supplies: 1,021 kg (2,251 lb)
• Science investigations: 1,220 kg (2,690 lb)
• Spacewalk equipment: 43 kg (95 lb)
• Vehicle hardware: 1,560 kg (3,440 lb)
• Computer resources: 13 kg (29 lb)

A repair kit for the NICER telescope will be delivered to the station on this mission.^[6]

Packed bed reactors are systems that use materials such as pellets or beads packed inside a structure to increase contact between different phases of fluids, such as liquid and gas.^[7] These reactors are used for various applications including water recovery, thermal management, and fuel cells. Scientists previously tested the performance in space of glass beads, Teflon beads, a platinum catalyst, and other packing materials.^[7] Packed Bed Reactor Experiment: Water Recovery Series evaluates gravity’s effects on eight additional test articles.^[7]

Results could help optimize the design and operation of packed bed reactors for water filtration and other systems in microgravity and on the Moon and Mars.^[7] Insights from the investigation also could lead to improvements in this technology for applications on Earth such as water purification and heating and cooling systems.^[7] A suitcase-sized piece of equipment sitting on a blue tabletop has a copper-colored frame and a metal box on the closest end with multiple nozzles and cords.^[7] A clear tube the length of the hardware is filled with small white beads.^[7] A person wearing a white lab coat and blue gloves is visible from the shoulders down behind the equipment.^[7] Hardware for the packed bed water recovery reactor experiment.^[7] The packing media is visible in the long clear tube.^[7]

STEMonstrations Screaming Balloon uses a balloon, a penny, and a hexagonal nut (the kind used to secure a bolt) for a NASA STEMonstration performed and recorded by astronauts on the space station.^[7] The penny and the nut are whirled separately inside an inflated balloon to compare the sounds they make.^[7] Each STEMonstration illustrates a different scientific concept, such as centripetal force, and includes resources to help teachers further explore the topics with their students.^[7]

In-Space Expansion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Clinical Application (InSPA-StemCellEX-H1) continues testing a technology to produce human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in space.^[7] HSCs give rise to blood and immune cells and are used in therapies for patients with certain blood diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers.^[7]

The investigation uses a system called BioServe In-space Cell Expansion Platform, or BICEP, which is designed to expand HSCs three hundredfold without the need to change or add new growth media, according to Louis Stodieck, principal investigator at the University of Colorado Boulder.^[7] BICEP affords a streamlined operation to harvest and cryopreserve cells for return to Earth and delivery to a designated medical provider and patient.^[7]

Someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukemia about every three minutes.^[7] Treating these patients with transplanted stem cells requires a donor-recipient match and long-term repopulation of transplanted stem cells.^[7] This investigation demonstrates whether expanding stem cells in microgravity could generate far more continuously renewing stem cells.^[7] This work eventually could lead to large-scale production facilities, with donor cells launched into orbit and cellular therapies returned to Earth.^[7] The biotechnology investigation also seeks to improve therapies for blood diseases and cancers such as leukemia.^[7]

Rotifer-B2, an ESA (European Space Agency) investigation, explores how spaceflight affects DNA repair mechanisms in a microscopic bdelloid rotifer, Adineta vaga.^[7] These tiny but complex organisms are known for their ability to withstand harsh conditions, including radiation doses 100 times higher than human cells can survive.^[7] The organisms are dried, exposed to high radiation levels on Earth, and rehydrated and cultured in an incubator on the station.^[7]

Previous research indicates that rotifers repair their DNA in space with the same efficiency as on Earth, but that research provided only genetic data.^[7] This experiment will provide the first visual proof of survival and reproduction during spaceflight.^[7] Results could provide insights into how spaceflight affects the rotifer’s ability to repair sections of damaged DNA in a microgravity environment, and could improve the general understanding of DNA damage and repair mechanisms for applications on Earth.^[7] This mission also delivers plants for the APEX-09 investigation, which examines plant responses to stressful environments and could inform the design of bio-regenerative support systems on future space missions.^[7]

• Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cygnus 22 (spacecraft).

• Northrop Grumman CRS-21 – NASA website
• NASA Commercial Resupply Mission NG-21 – Northrop Grumman website