The Cygnus spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences Corp. to deliver supplies to the International Space Station detached and released from the ISS Tuesday to complete its first cargo mission.Cygnus arrived at the station Jan. 12 after launching on Jan. 9 and delivered 2,780 pounds of science experiment and related supplies to the Expedition 38 crew, NASA said Tuesday.
One day prior to release, the six-person Expedition 38 crew in the station performed a series of scientific experiments and maintenance tasks on Cygnus.
Work included a leak check at the vestibule, flame tests and bacterial and fungal contamination checks.
NASA expected Cygnus to reach the Earth’s atmosphere Wednesday and burn up in the Pacific Ocean later that day.
