SOLAR WIND: Earth is entering a fast stream of solar wind that could spark auroras at high latitudes. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of geomagnetic storms on Jan. 12th. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
CYGNUS AND THE ISS: This morning, Jan. 12th, a robotic arm on the ISS reached out and snagged Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus supply ship, which reached the ISS on time despite a launch delay last Wednesday caused by stormy space weather. The docking at 8:05 am EST marked the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences.
Only five hours before the docking, the two spacecraft flew over the Netherlands where veteran satellite observer Marco Langbroek was waiting with his camera to take this picture:
"The Cygnus cargoship was too faint to be seen by the naked eye for most of the pass, but around 5:57:05 UTC it briefly flared to mag +2 and the close duo ISS-Cygnus was suddenly and briefly well visible as a result," says Langbroek. "This picture shows the moment when the Cygnus flared."
Cygnus delivered almost 2800 lbs of equipment and crew supplies to the space station. This includes dozens of new science experiments including 23 designed by students. One newly arrived investigation will study the behavior of ants in microgravity. Another will probe the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics during spaceflight--a possible problem for astronauts on long space journeys. Yet another will explore how different materials burn in microgravity to improve fire safety in future spacecraft. More information is available from NASA.
