NASA launches spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station

A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying the Cygnus resupply spacecraft was successfully launched Saturday afternoon from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The spacecraft is carrying more than 7,500 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.

The resupply aircraft is scheduled to arrive at the space station around 4:05 a.m. on Tuesday. NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Cygnus, while NASA’s Jessica Meir monitors telemetry. The spacecraft is scheduled to stay at the space station until May.

The Cygnus aircraft is named “S.S. Robert H. Lawrence” after Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., NASA’s first African American astronaut. It is carrying experiments that will study how microgravity affects humans and help identify ways to diminish its harmful effects.

This is Northrop Grumman’s 13th cargo flight to the International Space Station and an Antares rocket was used for the launch.

At the time of liftoff, the International Space Station was flying 258 statute miles over the western Pacific, northeast of the Northern Mariana Island.