Added 1 new A* page:"Orbital's Cygnus space freighter embarks on maiden voyage" is the big space headline; you probably remember hearing about that commercial SpaceX module that docked with the International Space Station; well, Orbital is the other company that got a nearly $2 billion contract to fly cargo to the ISS, and now it's their turn to show what they can do. We'll know in a few days when their robotic module tries to maneuver into docking position! Launch via their Antares rocket apparently went flawlessly.
I mentioned the Cygnus about two years ago at the end of my space module roundup, saying it uses the old Spacelab module design just like pretty much every other space module, and as this new article points out, the manufacturer of the Cygnus' pressurized cargo vessel, Thales Alenia Space of Turin, Italy, previously produced modules for NASA's Space Shuttles to carry to the ISS. Nice to see they're still in the game after the end of the Shuttle program.
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