Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket will make a second launch attempt after it was forced to stay grounded yesterday due to a boat that did not get out of the range of safety in time.
The rocket will take off at Oct. 28 6:22 p.m. EDT and you can WATCH IT LIVE on NASTV. There are currently no technical concerns with Antares, and the weather is expected to be 97 percent favorable, NASA reported. It will launch the spacecraft Cygnus into space so that it can deliver 5,000 pounds of supplies to the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The launch will mark Orbital's third mission to the International Space Station under its Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The cargo aboard the ship will be mainly scientific investigations, such as one that tests pea shoot growth in space, and another that will look at how blood flows in environments outside of Earth. Cygnus will also deliver: 1,649 pounds of crew supplies such as food and flight procedure books; 1,404.3 pounds of vehicle hardware; 145.5 pounds of spacewalk equipment; and 81.6 pounds of computer resources.
The Antares rocket is 131.5 feet tall and boasts an impressive liquid-fueled first stage powered by two Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 engines and a solid motor ATK CASTOR 30XL to throw it into orbit. Its powered launch sequence will last for about nine-and-a-half minutes from liftoff.
This mission will be the first to use the larger, more powerful CASTOR 30XL second stage motor and will carry the heaviest load ever delivered by Cygnus to the ISS. It will be supported by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Public viewing of the launch will be available at the NASA Visitor Center at Wallops. The launch could also be visible to some residents in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States, if the weather is clear.
