Sep 20 2013
DUNMORE Corporation multi layer insulation (MLI) films and tapes will protect vital components and wiring aboard Orbital Sciences’ spacecraft “Cygnus” as it docks with the International Space Station for the first time.
Aerospace company Orbital Sciences used DUNMORE high performing thin films and tapes on its Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft, which launched from NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility this morning. Cygnus will rendezvous with the ISS as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program (COTS) demonstration mission, marking the first of two scheduled demonstration missions to the ISS. Eight scheduled follow-on missions are part of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Service (CRS) program, a contract consisting of at least twenty total resupply missions split between SpaceX and Orbital Sciences.
“Providing MLI material to Orbital Sciences gives DUNMORE a presence in both of the U.S.-based commercial supply missions to the International Space Station,” said Dan Sullivan, DUNMORE Sales Director.
DUNMORE is a key supplier of high-performance films for aerospace and an important partner for NASA and its commercial subcontractors. DUNMORE’s high-performance, thin-film-based MLI materials protect spacecraft while contributing less to a spacecraft’s weight than options like metal sheeting and composite panels. DUNMORE materials are at work on the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station (ISS) and NASA’s science missions. DUNMORE is also supplying MLI materials to the Mars Science Laboratory – Curiosity and the upcoming MAVEN mission to study Mars’ atmosphere.
The Orbital Sciences demonstration mission consists of the Antares rocket and the Cygnus spacecraft. Antares is a two-stage launch vehicle designed to provide low cost and reliable access to space for payloads weighing up to 6120 kg. Cygnus is an advanced maneuvering spacecraft developed by Orbital to deliver cargo under a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Space Act Agreement.