Radish seeds, meats and cheeses launched to space station

A space station cargo ship rocketed into orbit Friday carrying a 360-degree camera for spacewalking, radish seeds for growing and a smorgasbord of fancy meats and cheeses for feasting.

Northrop Grumman launched its capsule to the International Space Station from the Virginia coast, providing a nighttime treat for observers from the Carolinas to New England, at least where skies were clear. The 8,000-pound (3,600-kilogram) shipment should reach the space station Monday.

Stashed aboard the Cygnus capsule: pressurized air tanks to help offset a vexing leak at the space station, a new $23 million titanium toilet custom fit for women, and a virtual reality camera to provide cinematic views of spacewalks and other outdoor shots.

Plus there’s more fresh food than usual, given that the space station population will be expanding from six to seven with SpaceX’s second astronaut launch on Oct. 31.

NASA’s new toilet, meanwhile, will be tested at the orbiting outpost before accompanying astronauts to the moon in a few years. It will join two larger, oldstyle, Russian-built commodes already up there. The new one is designed to better accommodate women, who are expected to have an increasing presence in space exploration.

This particular capsule, in fact, the SS Kalpana Chawla, is named after the first India-born woman in space. Chawla was among the seven astronauts killed in the 2003 shuttle Columbia accident. (AP)

(AP) Northrup Grumman’s Antares rocket lifts off the launch pad at the NASA Wallops test flight facility on Oct 2, in Wallops Island, Va. The rocket will deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Inset: This December 2019 photo made available by NASA shows the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), a new space toilet.