Jan 13, 2014 11:33 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS) bearing Christmas gifts, ants and supplies, Space.com reported.

Astronauts aboard the ISS docked the spacecraft with the station's robotic arm Sunday after the craft launched from Virginia aboard an Antares rocket Thursday. The resupply mission for NASA is a first for Orbital Sciences.

Aboard Cygnus was 2,780 pounds of cargo including fresh fruit, belated Christmas gifts, 23 student experiments, science gear and eight ant farms to be used in a weightlessness experiment.

"Our first mission under the CRS contract with NASA was flawlessly executed by our Antares and Cygnus operations team, from the picture-perfect launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility to the rendezvous, capture and berthing at the space station this morning," David W. Thompson, Orbital's President and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. "From the men and women involved in the design, integration and test, to those who launched the Antares and operated the Cygnus, our whole team has performed at a very high level for our NASA customer and I am very proud of their extraordinary efforts."

Space.com reported Cygnus' launch was originally set to take off in mid-December, the same time the ISS experienced a cooling loop malfunction. NASA astronauts successfully performed a spacewalk to repair the broken cooling loop on Christmas Eve and Cygnus' launch was delayed to January.

Last week, the launch experienced another delay, this one only for a day, thanks to an unexpected solar flare that may expose a radiation vulnerability of the Antares rocket.

"This resupply operation is the life of the space station," Cady Coleman, NASA astronaut, said Sunday during Cygnus' docking. "It is one thing to get the crew up there, but it is really important to get the supplies up there."

NASA has contracts with both Orbital and SpaceX, a company based in Hawthorne, Calif. and owned by Elon Musk. SpaceX is contracted for 12 cargo missions and has already completed two, with the next scheduled for Feb. 22.

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