A Cygnus spacecraft flies to the space station with just a solar panel

Nov. 7 () –

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus unmanned space freighter, which blasted off on November 7 for the International Space Station, deployed only one of its two solar panels into orbit.

The company is collecting data on the second array deployment and is working closely with NASA.

Northrop Grumman reported to NASA that “Cygnus has enough power to rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday, November 9 to complete its primary mission,” and NASA explained it’s a statement is evaluating this and the configuration required for capture and docking to the orbital complex.

After launching today, Nov. 7, @NorthropGrumman‘s #CRS18 cargo spacecraft has successfully deployed one of its two solar arrays. Teams are gathering data to determine requirements for its planned arrival to the @Space_Station on Wednesday, Nov. 9: https://t.co/9Z7MYqAUSk pic.twitter.com/R0gW2ZSR7B

— NASA (@NASA) November 7, 2022

The mission, which launched on an Antares rocket from Wallops, Virginia, is scheduled to deliver more than 3.6 tons of science payload, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbiting laboratory and its crew. The CRS-18 Cygnus spacecraft named after the first American woman in spaceSally Ride.