The ship Cygnus first 'docked' ISS

After a week of technical flaws, on September 29, Cygnus' private transport spacecraft "docked" the International Space Station (ISS) successfully in the first assembly mission in your space. This ship, AFP said.

>>>Soyuz cliff, Cygnus ships to postpone the ISS

According to the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Orbital Sciences Co., the first unmanned ship of the United States, flew to ISS, and was seized by robotic astronauts in the station. at 18:00 on September 29 (VN time), then slowly adjust it to the connection position at the Harmony module.

Cygnus flies to ISS close - (Photo: NASA)

Earlier, the missile-based Cygnus propelled the two floors Antares left the launch pad at the Wallops Missile Launching Center (NASA) on Wallops Island, on the Atlantic coast in Virginia (USA). September 18.

According to the plan, the flight to ISS on September 22. However, a problem with the ship navigation management software happened that the vessel could not "dock" ISS as expected. A day later, the ship was postponed to assemble with ISS to give way to Soyuz TMA-10 to send three astronauts to work on the station on September 26.

With this successful connection, the ship Cygnus followed SpaceX's Dragon ship to become the second private spacecraft capable of transporting goods to space.

It is known that Orbital Sciences won a $ 1.9 billion contract with NASA to bring the company's Cygnus spacecraft to bring goods to ISS. In total, Orbital Sciences will have eight trips to ship Cygnus to ISS to complete the contract.

After the test mission, in December, Orbital Sciences will launch Cygnus to make the first official flight for a contract with NASA.

Cygnus ships a robot arm into the connection port on the ISS - (Photo: NASA)

Earlier, SpaceX Company of internet billionaire Elon Musk opened a new chapter in the exploration of the universe with the participation of private companies and organizations, when successfully bringing the Dragon spacecraft to supply goods. for ISS.

After a successful test flight, the Dragon ship came to connect with ISS on May 22, 2012, SpaceX made the first two commercial flights to the universe on October 8, 2012 and March 1, 2012. / 2013, in a $ 1.6 billion contract signed in 2008 with NASA for 12 Dragon's flights to ISS.

Unlike Dragon that can return to Earth, Orbital Sciences' Cygnus vessel, when completed, will be burned in the ISS's waste atmosphere.