Northrop Grumman's Cygnus freighter arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), docking with the Canadarm2 robotic arm at 10.38 am Italian time on 22 February, as scheduled.
Named after Katherine Johnson, one of NASA's 'forgotten' African American mathematicians, it carries a 3.6-ton load of supplies, materials and spare parts.
Among the latter, the components for the bathroom of the Space Station.
Maneuvering the robotic arm that hooks Cygnus is Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
The capsule, which includes a pressurized module built for NASA in Italy, by Thales Alenia Space (Thales-Lonardo), was launched from Wallops Island (Virginia) on February 20 with a Northorp Grumman Antares rocket.
Once the docking maneuver is complete, the astronauts will have to face the operations necessary to open the hatches and enter the pressurized module to begin transferring materials.
In the cargo, astronauts will also be able to find fresh food, such as salmon, salami, parmesan and other fresh foods.
There is also a machine inside for the water recycling system, to be able to convert more urine into drinking water than the current device allows.
A key tool for long-lasting human missions, such as the one to Mars.
On the cargo there is also an extra 'sleeping place', as there are currently only 4 for 5 astronauts.
Katherine Johnson, who died at the age of 101 on February 24 a year ago, worked as a 'human computer' to calculate the orbit trajectories of many flights, starting with NASA's first human missions, such as that of John Glenn.
The film 'The right to count' was also dedicated to her and her African American colleagues.
"It is in our tradition - said Frank DeMauro, vice president of Northrop Grumman - to give a different name to each Cygnus, naming it after someone who played a key role in human spaceflight. Johnson, with his handwritten calculations, has helped bring the first Americans into space. "