Saturday, Apr 20, 2024 | Last Update : 06:56 PM IST
Supply run to space station delayed by stray plane
The Virginia-based company will try to launch its unmanned Antares rocket again with 7,400 pounds of cargo.
A supply run to the International Space Station has been delayed a day by a stray plane. Everything was going well in Saturday morning's launch countdown in Virginia. But at the last minute, a plane flew into the restricted airspace at Wallops Island. That prompted NASA's commercial shipper, Orbital ATK, to call off the lift off.
The Virginia-based company will try again on Sunday morning to launch it is unmanned Antares rocket with 7,400 pounds of cargo. The Cygnus capsule contains fresh fruit, vegetables and ice cream bars for the six station astronauts, plus mealworms and micro clover for student experiments.
Sunday's 7:14 AM launch should be visible as far north as Boston and as far south as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. But sunrise will make it hard to see.
This will be Orbital ATK's first launch from its home base in more than a year. The last time it made a space station delivery, it used another company's rocket flying from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space station crew, meanwhile, took advantage of the lull beam down thanks to US veterans and wish everyone a happy Veterans' Day.
