The International Space Station has been able to sustain itself fully even with limited supplies. From time to time though those onboard it need supplies, such as food. The ISS has been resupplied recently with a new delivery with much-needed supplies as well as equipment.
According to Phys Org the International Space Station has received supplies after two years from Orbital ATK. Coming with the supplies are food along with research equipment. The company is based in Virginia and has made its successful flight after an accident which destroyed its rocket On October 28, 2014.
The rocket used for the resupply is the Antares rocket, refitted with new Russian-made engines which replaced its old ones, as Review Journal reports. The launch pad, which was destroyed in the 2014 explosion, has also been rebuilt.
The Antares rocket has been unmanned. At the very top of the rocket is the Cygnus capsule, where the food and equipment have been stored. Research has also been on the flight, which includes experiments studying flames in space. The robotic toy Sphero has been onboard the flight as well.
The Cygnus capsule has been named S.S. Alan Poindexter, in honor of a former space shuttle commander who helped design the station. In 2012 he was killed after a a jet ski accident. To help retrieve the capsule, a large robotic arm has been used to pull it towards the station.
Helping in taking it in is Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. The current crew of the International Space Station also has two Americans and three Russians onboard.
"It's been a very difficult two years, and I can't imagine what those of you in the Orbital team went through," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said. He thanked Orbital ATK for the successful resupply mission.
The Cygnus capsule will remain with the space station, where it would be filled with trash before being sent to orbit to burn in the upper atmosphere in early November. Orbital ATK and SpaceX have been supplying the International Space Station, though currently SpaceX is grounded following the explosion of its Falcon 9 rocket last September 1.
The Pluto mission has earlier been reported to have found clouds on the planet.
