spacetoday.net: Cygnus departs from ISS

Posted: Wed, Feb 19, 2014, 7:25 AM ET (1225 GMT)
Cygnus unberthing from ISS on Orb-1 mission (NASA)

A Cygnus cargo spacecraft left the International Space Station early Tuesday, carrying away garbage to be destroyed upon reentry. The station's Canadarm2 robotic arm unberthed the Cygnus spacecraft from the Harmony node at 5:15 am EST (1015 GMT) Tuesday, releasing it nearly 90 minutes later. Cygnus the departed from the vicinity of the station. The spacecraft, which was loaded with trash prior to its unberthing, is scheduled to reenter and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere around 1:20 pm EST (1820 GMT) Wednesday. Cygnus, carrying more than 1,200 kilograms of supplies and equipment, launched on an Antares rocket from Virginia on January 9 and docked with the station three days later. The next Cygnus mission to the ISS is scheduled for May, while SpaceX will launch its next Dragon cargo mission to the ISS next month.