NASA launched its commercial cargo spacecraft on Thursday named after Kalpana Chawla, known to be first Indian-born woman to reach low earth orbit. The spacecraft is meant to commemorate the deceased NASA astronaut’s unparalleled contributions to human spaceflight. The spacecraft was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The spacecraft named Cygnus has been manufactured and launched by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems as part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program. A new crop of vegetables was also directed to the space station.
As per reports, the spacecraft will reach and be attached to the space station two days later. Regarding the NG-14 mission, S.S. Kalpana Chawla spacecraft will deliver approximately 3,630 kilograms of cargo to the station.