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International Space Station grabs cargo craft

By Allen Cone
The Cygnus resupply ship slowly approaches the space station before the Canadarm2 reaches out and grabs. Photo courtesy of NASA TV
The Cygnus resupply ship slowly approaches the space station before the Canadarm2 reaches out and grabs. Photo courtesy of NASA TV

HOUSTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully used a robotic arm to grab the Cygnus spacecraft with 5,100 pounds of supplies and research equipment Sunday.

NASA's Kate Rubins and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Takuya Onishi snagged the Cygnus craft at 7:28 a.m. Sunday. with the Canadarm2. At 10:53 a.m., the cargo craft, built by aerospace company Orbital ATK, was attached to the bottom of the space station's Unity module.

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Cygnus will stay at the station until mid-November. It will then be loaded with trash and then separated to burn up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Cygnus, which is the :atinized Greek word for swan and a northern constellation, was launched Monday from the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallups Island, Virginia.

The cargo aboard included equipment that aid in studying fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms, collection of health-related data and a new way to measure neutrons.

"While all of our missions are important to us, the OA-5 mission is distinct and special to the entire Orbital ATK team," Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, said in a release. "It marked the return to our home base of operations at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, where we launched our Cygnus spacecraft atop our upgraded Antares vehicle to deliver critical cargo to the International Space Station.

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On Friday, three astronauts — two Russians and one American — docked at the space station, giving the station its normal six-person crew.

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