Space

Cygnus Spacecraft Attached To ISS Harmony Node

Mark Hoffman
First Posted: Oct 20, 2013 06:59 PM EDT

Attached to the Harmony node, the first Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp. is seen in the grasp of the Canadarm2, photographed by an Expedition 37 crew member on the International Space Station.

The two spacecraft converged at 7:01 a.m. EDT on Sept. 29, 2013. The thin line of Earth's atmosphere provides the backdrop for the scene.

The privately owned cargo ship that successfully docked at the ISS delivered about 1,300 pounds of cargo that included food and clothing, student experiments and various other important supplies.

Cygnus, named after a late NASA astronaut, was captured by the Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano with the help of Canadarm2 that is installed in the craft. It was launched on September 18 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, aboard a 40 meter long Antares rocket.

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