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
02:29Kayes Station, Apollo 6 round two.
02:43We're in step four decimal two and we're waiting to capture for lighting conditions.
02:57capture for lighting conditions. Houston copies.
03:21The crew is standing by for better lighting conditions. We did just recently
03:26exit that orbital night time and are into that orbital and are into that
03:32orbital daytime right now. This is a live view of Cygnus and the robotic arm
03:38on the left. The robotic arm has not started to move yet. Again, the crew is
03:42waiting for better lighting conditions.
04:26The robotic arm is the lea, that's the latching end effector, the hand of the arm. There are latches and
04:32snares that are going to grab on to the target. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic is
04:37going to maneuver that arm so that it can grab on to the station. We're ready
04:44with the lighting and we can complete step 4.2 on your go.
04:49Houston copies. Go for it.
05:26NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps on board the space station confirmed that they are
05:56good to proceed with capture. However, the robotic arm is not currently moving
06:02yet. You are seeing live views of that capture on your screen right now.
06:11And 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 lea or the latching end effector. You are
06:40seeing live views now as NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic pushes in the robotic
06:46arm to Cygnus.
06:52The circle towards the bottom is actually the grapple target. Dominic is
06:57going to be aiming for that horizontal bar just above it. The fixtures on the
07:05robotic arm are going to engage with that circular pinwheel shape that is
07:10directly below the horizontal bar.
07:26Two meters away.
07:40One meter.
08:40While the space station flew over the South Atlantic Ocean, Northrop Grumman's
08:4521st Commercial Resupply Service mission was successfully captured at the hands
08:51of NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic.
09:04The Cygnus cargo spacecraft as you see on your screen is now securely attached
09:10to the space station's robotic arm.
09:18Next up is going to be the installation of the Cygnus spacecraft. That is
09:24actually going to be done by the ground team here in Mission Control Houston.
09:31For now, NASA astronauts Matthew Dominic and Jeanette Epps are relieved from
09:37their duties. We'll go on to their tasks for the day. We are going to take a brief
09:42break on our coverage and we will be back for that installation.
10:37Houston, station on cue. The Cygnus capture is complete.
11:02Go for Cygnus post-capture reconfiguration. You know, the space station brings a lot of
11:08visiting vehicles aboard and we make it seem regular, but there's nothing regular
11:13about making one space station connect to another. It's incredible every single time.
11:17Welcome aboard the space station 6KB.
11:23Houston copies all and concurs. This has been an incredible effort from both our
11:27Northrop Grumman and NASA teams and all the way from mission planning and
11:30operation leading up to launch and especially over the past 48 hours, mission
11:33execution. Outstanding work today to you all and congrats on successfully capturing
11:37the 21st Cygnus and 50th visiting vehicle to the International Space Station.
11:41Why don't you all go celebrate with some ice cream?
11:46Did you say 50th? That's incredible. What an incredible group of teams from
11:50around the planet make this happen every single time. Thank you guys.
12:00You heard wonderful congratulatory remarks.
12:24Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft supporting the 21st Northrop Grumman's
12:3221st commercial resupply service mission to the International Space Station has
12:37been successfully grappled at the hands of NASA astronaut Matthew Dominic with
12:42NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps serving as his backup.
12:452.11 a.m. Central Time, 3.11 a.m. Eastern Time is our official time of capture.