On Oct. 23, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft safely arrived at the International Space Station – six days after being launched on an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, in Virginia. The successful trip to orbit is the return of rocket launches to the space station from Virginia, following the loss of an Antares and a Cygnus spacecraft during a launch mishap in October 2014. The Cygnus delivered more than 5,100 pounds of science investigations, food and supplies to the crew onboard the station. Also, Next Space Station Crew Trains in Russia, Solar Hazards in Exploration, Preparing for Orion Water Recovery Test and more.

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Cygnus Arrives Safely to ISS

On Oct. 23, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft safely arrived at the International Space Station – six days after being launched on an Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, in Virginia. The successful trip to orbit is the return of rocket launches to the space station from Virginia, following the loss of an Antares and a Cygnus spacecraft during a launch mishap in October 2014. The Cygnus delivered more than 5,100 pounds of science investigations, food and supplies to the crew onboard the station.

Next Space Station Crew Trains in Russia

Expedition 50/51, which includes NASA’s Peggy Whitson, is the next crew headed to the space station. Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, conducted final qualification training Oct. 24 and 25 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Launch of the crew is targeted for mid-November from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The trio is scheduled to spend five-months on the International Space Station.

Solar Hazards in Exploration

During an Oct. 25 event at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, former NASA astronaut John Grunsfeld was part of a panel discussion on space weather and the dangers of high-energy solar radiation in the space environment. The event also marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory or (STEREO) spacecraft. The twin probes have advanced space weather forecasting more than any other spacecraft or solar observatory and enabled previously impossible early warnings of threatening conditions posed by the sun. Understanding the hazards of space weather on crewed and robotic missions is vital to informing plans for NASA’s Journey to Mars and other missions into our solar system, and beyond.

Preparing for Orion Water Recovery Test

A test version of NASA’s Orion crew module was moved into the well deck of the USS San Diego at Naval Base San Diego in California recently, to prepare for Underway Recovery Test 5 (URT-5). During URT-5, which will take place in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, a team of NASA, Lockheed Martin and Navy personnel will use the Orion test article to evaluate the processes, procedures, and hardware necessary to safely recover the real spacecraft from the ocean when it returns from deep space missions. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including to an asteroid and on NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Von Braun Memorial Symposium

NASA and industry leaders gathered in Huntsville, Alabama, near Marshall Space Flight Center for the 9th Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium Oct. 25-27. This year’s theme was “Exploring the Universe and Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Space.” At the Thursday dinner event, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was presented the Von Braun Space Flight Trophy – awarded by the Huntsville chapter of the National Space Club to the individual or organization that has made great achievement in advancing spaceflight programs and contributing to U.S. leadership in the fields of rocketry and astronautics. The event also featured NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman, Marshall Center Director Todd May and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who was the only scientist to walk on the moon.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.