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These photographs span March 9 through the 17th as the news media got an up-close viewing of the Orbital ATK commercial Cygnus cargo ship at Kennedy Space Center’s Payload Hazardous Processing Facility, placement aboard a mobile transporter and delivery to the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket assembly building for hoisting and mating.

Cygnus is carrying 7,626 pounds of crew logitics and new science for the International Space Station, the seventh such freighter launched by Orbital ATK under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. The craft is christened the S.S. John Glenn in honor of America’s first human to orbit Earth.

It is the third Cygnus to fly on the Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral.

Liftoff is scheduled for April 18 at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT). The day’s launch window lasts 30 minutes.

See earlier OA-7 Cygnus coverage.

Our Atlas archive.