Status Update – 10:30 am ET from Orbital Sciences – Cygnus Demos 2a and 2b Completed

Since launch yesterday at 10:58 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), Orbital’s Cygnus logistics spacecraft and its team have been busy and performing well. After successfully completing two orbit-raising Delta V (DV) burns, the team carried out free drift and abort demonstrations (known as Demos 2a and 2b). This marked the first of 10 demonstration milestones for Cygnus on its way to the International Space Station. The team is packaging data from the test for NASA’s review and approval, which is expected to be received today. The next DV burn, DV3, is planned for approximately 3 p.m. EDT today, Thursday, Sept. 19.

Mission updates can be found at Orbital’s website (http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-D1/), on Orbital’s Facebook page (facebook.com/OrbitalSciencesCorp) or Orbital’s Twitter profile (@OrbitalSciences). For images from yesterday’s launch, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitalsciences/.