An Orbital Sciences Corp cargo ship reached the International Space Station earlier today (July 16) with a delivery of supplies, science experiments, food, and a fleet of tiny Earth-imaging satellites.
The satellites will be launched from the orbital outpost, according to Reuters.
Commander Steven Swanson was able to steer the station's 58-foot long robotic arm from a control panel inside the station's Cupola module to grab the Cygnus capsule from orbit at 6:36 a.m. EDT as the ship sailed 260 miles above northern Libya.
"I think everyone is breathing again," NASA robotics officer Melanie Miller radioed to the crew from Mission Control in Houston, according to Reuters.
The SS Janice Voss space capsule was named after a five-time space shuttle astronaut who died of breast cancer two years ago.
The capsule launched aboard an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket from Virginia on July 13.
"We now have a seventh crewmember," Swanson said to Mission Control. "Welcome aboard the ISS, Janice."
The capsule will be bolted to a docking port on the station's Harmony module later on today so that Swanson and his five crewmembers can start unpacking over 3,600 pounds worth of food, supplies, and equipment.
Included in the cargo is 28-shoebox sized satellites for Planet Labs, which operates a constellation of Earth-imaging satellites.
The satellites will be deployed this summer from a satellite launcher in Japan's Kibo module.
"Our goal is to image the whole Earth every day ... and then put it online for people to get access to it," Robbie Schlinger, co-founder of the San Francisco-based company, said to reporters during a prelaunch press conference.
Planet Labs has already flown 42 ultra-compact satellites, according to Reuters. It intends to operate a network of 100 spacecrafts to collect images of the entire Earth every 24 hours.
"It's really about getting rich data, to make it actionable and accessible to people," Schlinger said.
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