OA-7 comes to and end after successful mission.
Following a 54-day mission - including 43 berthed to the International Space Station - the Cygnus OA-7 spacecraft reentered the Earth’s atmosphere Sunday afternoon, June 11. The S.S. John Glenn, as this Cygnus spacecraft was named, brought 7,442 pounds of cargo and experiments to the orbiting outpost and launched from Cape Canaveral April 18. Arrival and berthing occurred four days later on April 22. Although Cygnus was originally intended to remain at the station until July 16, a delay in the arrival of SpaceX’s CRS-11 mission allowed the crew’s schedule to bump up Cygnus’ departure. Expedition 51 crew members detached Cygnus and maneuvered the spacecraft to its departure position the afternoon of June 4.
Once in free flight away from the station, OA-7 released four cubesats carried in an external dispenser - the third spacecraft to do so behind OA-6 and OA-5. The third and final SAFFIRE experiment to test large-scale fires in space was powered up June 8, just three days before Cygnus’ planned reentry. OA-6 and OA-5 carried the SAFFIRE-1 and 2 experiments respectively. By the time the spacecraft was prepared to deorbit, only one experiment remained on board, the RED-Data-2 instrument. RED-Data-2 is a data recorder that analyzes the destructive reentry of the spacecraft as it breaks up in the intense heat of the Earth’s atmosphere. The 3.5-inch sphere also tested newer heat shield materials for both NASA and SpaceX. Although the sphere was not recovered, it transmitted its data as it fell through the atmosphere.
Orbital ATK’s next Cygnus mission, OA-8E, is scheduled for the autumn of 2017. It will be the first Extended Commercial Resupply Mission bridging the gap between the supply runs of the CRS-1 and CRS-2 contracts.
