NASA Offers Media Advance Access to Cygnus at Kennedy for Upcoming Cargo Delivery Mission
Media are invited to view and photograph an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft filled with cargo bound for the International Space Station on Thursday, March 9, at NASA’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Media will also be able to interview Orbital ATK, United Launch Alliance and NASA project and launch program officials. Spokespersons will be:
Frank DeMauro, vice president and general manager, Advanced Programs Division Space Systems Group, Orbital ATK
Vern Thorp, program manager, Commercial Missions, United Launch Alliance
Holly Vavrin, International Space Station Program Office, NASA Johnson Space Center
News media should be at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site at 8:30 a.m. EST for departure to the payload facility. Arrival back at the press site will be by 11:30 a.m. Accreditation requests for this event should be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
This event is open to U.S. Citizens and green card holders only. The deadline for media to apply for accreditation is Sunday, March 5. Media must present two forms of unexpired legal, government identification to receive a badge for access to Kennedy Space Center. One form must include a photo, such as a driver’s license or passport. Badges will be available for pick up at the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office located on State Road 405 east of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Badges will be issued the day of the event, March 9, beginning at 6:30 a.m.
Questions about accreditation should be directed to Jennifer Horner at jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov or by calling 321-867-6598.
The seventh commercial resupply services mission for Orbital ATK, CRS-7, is targeted for liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida March 19 at 10:56 p.m. EDT, which is at the opening of a 30-minute launch window.
Orbital ATK uses the Cygnus to perform space station resupply flights under the Commercial Resupply Services contract. Cygnus consists of a pressurized cargo module for crew supplies, scientific experiments and equipment, together with an associated service module providing solar power and propulsion. This mission will be the fourth flight of the extended variant of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus pressurized cargo module, which increases the spacecraft’s interior volume capacity by 25 percent, enabling more cargo to be delivered with each mission. The CRS-7 freighter will be delivering more than 7,500 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the station, including an advanced plant habitat system and other experiments to be conducted in the U.S. National Lab ranging from targeted cancer cell therapies to growing crystals. Cygnus will also carry dozens of small satellites including 28 from universities around the world in coordination with NanoRacks and the Von Karman Institute’s QB50 CubeSats program.
Full clean-room attire must be worn and will be furnished. Long pants and closed-toe shoes are required. No shorts, skirts or high heels will be permitted. To be consistent with clean-room protocol, journalists are asked not to wear perfume, cologne or makeup.
Prior to entering the facility high bay, photographers will need to clean camera equipment under the supervision of contamination-control specialists. Alcohol wipes will be provided.
All camera equipment must be self-contained; no portable lights can be permitted. Flash photography will be allowed; however, the facility has adequate high pressure sodium lighting (orange cast) for pictures. Wireless microphones and cellular devices are permitted inside the high bay for this activity.
Nonessential equipment, such suede, leather or vinyl camera bags or other carrying cases, must be left outside the cleanroom. No pencils, food, tobacco, chewing gum, lighters, matches or pocket knives will be allowed.
For other questions or additional information, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468
For more information about the Orbital ATK resupply mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orbital
For more information about the International Space Station, its crew and research, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
