NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg said she can't wait for this weekend's arrival of a new cargo ship and a fresh supply of chocolate. Dark or milk?

A Virginia company makes its debut this week as a space station delivery service. And the lone American aboard the orbiting lab is counting on a fresh stash of chocolate.

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In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg said she can't wait for this weekend's arrival of a new cargo ship named Cygnus. She says it should be similar to other shipments at the International Space Station, even though it will be a first for Orbital Sciences Corp.

Nyberg is a mechanical engineer and a flight engineer on Expedition 36. On May 28, 2013, she arrived at the ISS. She's the 50th woman in space.

Orbital Sciences is scheduled to launch an unmanned Antares rocket containing Cygnus on Wednesday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It's where NASA launched a moon spacecraft 1 weeks ago.

NASA is paying Orbital Sciences and the California-based SpaceX company to keep the space station well stocked.

In December, NASA is expected to start growing lettuce at the ISS. "December will see six heads of lettuce in Kevlar pillow packs brought to life in 28 days under neon-pink LED lights on the ISS. A half-dozen bunches of leafy greens is obviously not enough to satiate the crew long-term, but a successful crop would be a major development in the quest to figure out how to sustain human life beyond our planet," reports Gizmodo.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NASA astronaut eager for next chocolate delivery