spacetoday.net: Cygnus arrives at ISS

Posted: Sun, Sep 29, 2013, 10:19 AM ET (1419 GMT)
Cygnus grappled by ISS arm on COTS mission (NASA)

A commercial cargo spacecraft performed a rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday morning and was berthed to the station. The Orbital Sciences Corporation Cygnus spacecraft, making its first flight, gradually approached the space station early Sunday, maneuvering to 10 meters of the ISS before the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm grappled the spacecraft at 7:00 am EDT (1100 GMT). The arm then moved Cygnus into position for berthing to the station's Harmony mode, a process completed at 8:44 am EDT (1244 GMT). Hatches between the Cygnus and ISS are scheduled to open on Monday. The rendezvous was originally scheduled for a week ago, but postponed because of a software glitch on the spacecraft and then to allow the docking of a Soyuz spacecraft to the station late Wednesday. Cygnus is carrying 700 kilograms of supplies on this test flight, the last milestone before beginning regular commercial cargo deliveries to the ISS, and is scheduled to remain attached to the station for approximately a month.