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"HOUSTON, STATION ON SPACE TO GROUND."

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WELCOME TO SPACE TO GROUND, I’M LEAH CHESHIER.

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THE SPACE STATION FREED UP ONE MORE PARKING SPOT THIS WEEK WITH THE DEPARTURE OF

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NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S CYGNUS SPACECRAFT.

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AFTER 109 DAYS ABOARD THE SPACE STATION, CYGNUS COMPLETED ITS 11TH COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY MISSION

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AND WAS RELEASED BY NASA’S NICK HAGUE.

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UPON ITS ARRIVAL ON APRIL 19th, CYGNUS DELIVERED NEARLY 7,600 POUNDS OF RESEARCH AND SUPPLIES

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TO THE ORBITING LABORATORY, INCLUDING EXPERIMENTS STUDYING VASCULAR AGING IN ASTRONAUTS,

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A TOOL TO MORE EASILY ANALYZE BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES IN SPACE,

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AND A FEW FREE-FLYING ROBOTS CALLED ASTROBEE.

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THOUGH CYGNUS IS NO LONGER ATTACHED TO THE SPACE STATION, ITS WORK IS NOT FINISHED YET.

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ONCE CYGNUS REACHES A SAFE DISTANCE AND HIGHER ALTITUDE FROM THE STATION, IT WILL USE THE

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SLINGSHOT DEPLOYER TO EJECT A SERIES OF NANOSATELLITES.

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IT WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED BY AN EXTERNAL,
FREE-FLYING ROBOT CALLED “SEEKER.”

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SEEKER WILL TAKE IMAGES OF CYGNUS AND PERFORM ATTITUDE MANEUVERS TO DEMONSTRATE ITS ABILITY

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TO OPERATE SAFELY AROUND ANOTHER SPACECRAFT.

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AFTERWARD, IT WILL BE COMMANDED TOWARD A DISPOSAL TRAJECTORY, LEAVING IT TO BURN UPON REENTRY

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TO EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE.

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AFTER A FEW MORE MONTHS OF SYSTEM TESTS, CYGNUS WILL ALSO BE DESTROYED UPON ATMOSPHERIC REENTRY.

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THIS WEEK’S QUESTION IS FROM ALEX M, WHO
ASKS IF CYGNUS CAN BOOST THE SPACE STATION

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BEFORE IT RETURNS TO EARTH.

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AS ALEX NOTED, SOME SPACECRAFT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO BOOST THE SPACE STATION

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OR RAISE ITS ALTITUDE,  WHILE STILL ATTACHED.

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THIS KEEPS THE SPACE STATION FROM HAVING TO USE ITS LIMITED FUEL SUPPLY TO STAY IN ORBIT

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AT ABOUT 250 MILES ABOVE EARTH.

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CYGNUS HAS BEEN TESTED FOR AND CAN PROVIDE A BOOST TO THE SPACE STATION IF REQUIRED,

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BUT MOST ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS ARE MADE BY THE RUSSIAN PROGRESS SPACECRAFT OR BY FIRING

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THE THRUSTERS ON THE RUSSIAN SERVICE MODULE, ZVEZDA.