RocketSTEM Issue #8 - July 2014 | Page 99

Antares rocket launches cargo to space station A multitude of NASA research investigations, crew provisions, hardware and science experiments from across the country is headed to the International Space Station aboard Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Cygnus spacecraft. The cargo craft launched aboard Orbital’s Antares rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on July 13, 2014. The Orbital-2 mission is carrying nearly 3,300 pounds of supplies to the ISS, which will expand the research capability of nanosatellites designed to take images of Earth; and a satellite-based investigation called TechEdSat-4. Another experiment features a sensor and multiple cameras to enable 3-D mapping and robotic navigation inside the space Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson of NASA, with help from Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls