The Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft was captured by the International Space Station's robotic arm.
Credit: NASA
Credit: NASA
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TechTranscript
00:00Here on your screen you can see on the left that is the space station's robotic arm that
00:05NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic is going to be controlling.
00:09He's going to push that into Cygnus and grapple onto it.
00:19NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is assisting him, serving as his second set of eyes.
00:24You'll also hear her call down to the crew in mission control.
00:29The astronauts do have the go from ground teams here on Earth to proceed with capture.
00:59NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
01:29NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
01:59NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
02:29NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
02:35Lurinass Aah
02:51Houston Station, this is station round two.
02:53We're in step 4.2 and we're waiting to capture for lighting condition. Houston copies.
03:02The crew is standing by for better lighting conditions. We did just recently exit that
03:28orbital nighttime and are into that orbital daytime right now. This is a live view of
03:36Cygnus and the robotic arm on the left. The robotic arm has not started to move yet. Again,
03:42the crew is waiting for better lighting conditions.
03:58At the end of the robotic arm is the lee. That's
04:28the latching end effector, the hand of the arm. There are latches and snares that are going to
04:33grab on to the target. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic is going to maneuver that arm so that
04:40it can grab on to the station. We're ready with the lighting and we can complete step 4.2 on your
04:47call. Houston copies. Go for it.
05:47NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps on board the space station confirmed that they are good
05:56to proceed with capture. However, the robotic arm is not currently moving yet.
06:02You are seeing live views of that capture on your screen right now.
06:18And we have confirmed movement. The crew is pushing in the robotic arm to Cygnus.
06:33We do have a camera at the end of that lee or the latching end effector. You're seeing live
06:41views now as NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic pushes in the robotic arm to Cygnus.
06:48The circle towards the bottom is actually the grapple target. Dominic is going to be aiming
06:58for that horizontal bar just above it. The fixtures on the robotic arm are going to engage
07:07with that circular pinwheel shape that is directly below the horizontal bar.
07:26Two meters away.
07:37One meter.
08:07Two 11 a.m. Central time.
08:37Three 11 a.m. Eastern time.
08:40While the space station flew over the South Atlantic Ocean, Northrop Grumman's 21st
08:46commercial resupply service mission was successfully captured at the hands of NASA
08:51astronaut Matthew Dominic.
08:53The Cygnus cargo spacecraft, as you see on your screen, is now securely attached to the
09:10space station's robotic arm.
09:12Next up is going to be the installation of the Cygnus spacecraft. That is actually going to be
09:25done by the ground team here in Mission Control Houston. For now, NASA astronauts Matthew
09:34Dominic and Jeanette Epps are relieved from their duties, will go on to their tasks for the
09:40day. We are going to take a brief break on our coverage and we will be back for that
09:46installation.
10:40Houston, station on cue. The Cygnus capture is complete.
11:01We'll go for Cygnus post-capture reconfiguration. The space station brings a lot of
11:08visiting vehicles aboard and we make it seem regular, but there's nothing regular about making
11:14one space station connect to another. It's incredible every single time. Welcome aboard the
11:18space station, 6Scopy.
11:23Houston copies all and concurs. This has been an incredible effort from both our Northrop Grumman
11:28and NASA teams and all the way from mission planning and preparation leading up to launch and
11:31especially over the past 48 hours, mission execution. Outstanding work today to you all and
11:36congrats on successfully capturing the 21st Cygnus and 50th visiting vehicle to the
11:40International Space Station. Why don't you all go celebrate with some ice cream?
11:46Did you say 50th? It's incredible. What an incredible group of teams from around the planet
11:50make this happen every single time. Thank you guys.
12:06You heard wonderful congratulatory remarks.
12:27Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft supporting the 21st, Northrop Grumman's 21st commercial
12:34resupply service mission to the International Space Station has been successfully grappled
12:39at the hands of NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick with NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps serving as his
12:45backup. 2 11 a.m. Central time, 3 11 a.m. Eastern time is our official time of capture.