A spectacular spacecraft departure. At 8:11 a.m. EST this morning, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo vehicle was released from the International Space Station (iss). Cygnus is currently filled with more than 6,200 pounds of trash and other items that will burn up over the Pacific Ocean as the spacecraft re-enters Earth’s atmosphere on Dec. 18. Today, before its re-entry later this month, Cygnus will deploy 14 CubeSats to conduct science. Cygnus arrived at the space station on Nov. 14 and delivered almost 7,400 pounds of science and supplies to the crew onboard. These experiments included studies in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. Credit: NASA/AstroKomrade #nasa #space #spacestation #orbitalatk #cygnus #spacecraft #cargo #supplies #science #cubesats #reentry #earth #orbit #deliver #depart #canadarm2 #roboticarm