Northrop Grumman on track for launch of NG-15
An overview of what is aboard the NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft. Credit: Derek Richardson / Spaceflight Insider / Orbital Velocity
Blue skies and a positive forecast (holding at 75% favorable) greeted the NG-15 Antares launch vehicle this morning, as NASA and Northrop Grumman continue preparations for today’s launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Spaceflight Insider team is up and preparing the day’s coverage, with our remote cameras having been set at the launch pad and our interviews a mix of completed and arranged. Watch for additional reports on the mission, as our team digs in to the payload and the science currently sitting within Cygnus, atop the vertical Antares rocket. For some background, check out one of our NG-15 pre-launch pieces, here.
Following a company tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight, Northrop Grumman named the NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft after NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, a Black woman who time and again broke through barriers of gender and race. Her hand-written calculations were critical to America’s success during our first human spaceflight missions.
Today’s launch is scheduled for 12:36 p.m. EST.
Cold and rainy conditions challenged members of the media during Friday’s remote camera setup at the launch pad, but work continued and the NG-15 Antares vehicle has since been brought vertical on Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo: Theresa Cross, Spaceflight Insider
Sean Costello
Sean Costello is a technology professional who also researches, writes about and speaks publicly on the inspiring lessons within international space flight program. Prior to joining SpaceFlight Insider in early 2014, Costello was a freelance photographer and correspondent covering shuttle-era Kennedy Space Center launches for various radio and print news organizations.
