Cygnus ship to deliver bacteria to ISS for biofuel production

The American cargo spacecraft Cygnus will deliver 1,040 kg of equipment and materials for scientific experiments, including bacteria for biofuel experiments, to the International Space Station. This is reported by the Space.com. The launch of the Cygnus ship of the American aerospace agency NASA is scheduled for February 10 at 01:39 Moscow time. The cargo ship will be launched with the Antares launch vehicle from NASA's Wallops launch site on the Virginia coast. NASA notes that the weather forecast is favorable by 95%. There remains a small probability of start transfer in the case of concentration of thick cough clouds in the area of the launch site. Cygnus NG-13 will deliver 3,400 kg of payload to ISS, including 1,040 kg of materials for scientific experiments. In particular, on board the ship is a mobile laboratory for experiments to grow cells and tissues in space, as well as bacteria intestinal stick (lat. Escherichia coli), which will be used for experiments to obtain biofuels under microgravity conditions. Cygnus series ships are disposable and are destroyed in dense atmosphere after delivery of cargo. It is planned that on board Cygnus NG-13 after disconnection from ISS there will be a fire to study the spread of fire in weightlessness. As previously reported by the news agency, on February 9 it became known that the next Russian cargo ship of the Progress MS series will go to the ISS in April.