Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Departure From ISS Will Be Broadcasted By NASA TV

US cargo spacecraft, the Orbital ATK Cygnus, is ready to leave the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, June 14. The live coverage of Cygnus's departure will reportedly be provided by NASA TV, starting from 9 a.m. EDT.

Incidentally, the cargo spacecraft was launched on March 22 and it reached the ISS on March 26, after four days of journey. The Cygnus has delivered almost 3402 kilograms of cargo to the space laboratory for the purpose of experiments, which has included Earth science, physical science, biotechnology and biology studies.  On its release day, the cargo ship will be maneuvered in place by robotic controllers. Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Tim Kopra of NASA, crew members of Expedition 47, will give the command for Cygnus's release at 9:30 a.m.

Five hours from the departure of the Cygnus, the Saffire-I experiment will take place onboard it, which will offer a new technique to monitor a realistic fire on a spacecraft. An experiment like this has never been possible previously because there are too many dangers of carrying out such analyses onboard a crewed spacecraft. The oxygen use and flame growth on the returning cargo spacecraft will be measured by instruments already present onboard. The study of a realistic fire on a spacecraft is important for the safety of space missions, both present and future. In addition, an external deployer will release five LEMUR CubeSats from the Cygnus on June 15, which will play a key role in remote sensing satellite constellation which will offer weather monitoring and global ship tracking.

The Cygnus will stay in orbit until June 22, following which its engines will fire twice, facilitating its entry into the Earth's atmosphere where it will subsequently burn up above the Pacific Ocean. However, the deorbit burn of the Cygnus will not be covered by NASA TV's live broadcast. You can get more information about the live NASA TV coverage here.