Antares liftoff from Wallops to Space Station set for February

Northrop Grumman’s 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station is scheduled for liftoff Saturday, Feb. 19, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island,.

The mission for NASA will deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman is targeting liftoff of its Antares rocket no earlier than 12:39 p.m. Feb. 19 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at Wallops.

This is the first Cygnus mission featuring enhanced capabilities to perform a re-boost to the space station’s orbit as a standard service for NASA; one re-boost is planned while Cygnus is connected to the orbiting laboratory, NASA said in a release.

Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth, space, and physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations.

Planned space station research supported by this mission includes:’

  • A study that examines the effects of a drug on breast and prostate cancer cells

  • A new combustion facility

  • An investigation from Colgate-Palmolive that will leverage the acceleration of skin aging in microgravity to help create and validate an engineered tissue model to serve as a platform for testing potential products to protect aging skin

  • A demonstration of a lithium-ion secondary battery capable of safe, stable operation under extreme temperatures and in a vacuum environment

  • New hydrogen sensors that will be tested for the space station’s oxygen generation system

  • A system that will test hydroponic and aeroponic techniques for plant growth and allow scientists to observe root growth through video and still images

Get more information about Northrop Grumman’s commercial resupply missions at: www.nasa.gov/

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Antares rocket liftoff from Wallops to ISS set for February