Private Cygnus Spacecraft with NASA Cargo Makes 2nd Launch Try Today
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A privately built Cygnus supply craft bound for the International Space Station will get a second chance to launch today (Dec. 4) after bad weather foiled an attempted liftoff yesterday.
The unmanned Cygnus spaceship, built by Orbital ATK, is slated to launch into space atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 5:33 p.m. EST (2255 GMT). There's a 60 percent chance that dismal weather may again delay the launch, according to a NASA update.
You can watch the launch attempt live at Space.combeginning at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), courtesy of NASA TV.
Orbital ATK's Cygnus is hauling nearly 4 tons of suppliesto the International Space Station as part of a $1.9 billion deal with NASA. About one-third of those supplies are science experiments.
Today's launch will mark Orbital ATK's fourth cargo launch for NASA and the first Cygnus flight since October 2014, when one of the company's Antares rockets that normally carries the vehicles exploded just after liftoff, destroying its Cygnus payload. Orbital ATK plans to return its Antares rockets to flight in 2016.
If today's launch try for Cygnus lifts off on time, the craft will rendezvous with the International Space Station on Monday (Dec. 7). But if the spacecraft launches later in its 30-minute launch window, its rendezvous with the station will slip to Tuesday (Dec. 8), NASA officials explained in the update.
Orbital ATK is one of two commercial spaceflight companies with contracts to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other is SpaceX, which has a $1.6 billion contract to fly 12 missions for NASA using Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX has flown six successful cargo flights so far, with a seventh mission failing in June. SpaceX plans to resume its NASA cargo flights in early January.
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Private Antares Rocket & Cygnus Spacecraft Explained (Infographic)
Photos: Orbital Sciences' 1st Cygnus Cargo Mission to Space Station
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