The launch was supposed to happen yesterday, but had to be postponed to today due to adverse weather conditions.
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The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft onboard seen shortly after arriving at Space Launch Complex 41 on December 2, 2015, at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
This launch includes another first- the Atlas V rocket will be lifting the Cygnus into orbit.
The cargo ship is packed with more supplies than a Cygnus has ever carried, amounting to some 7,300 pounds (3,300 kilograms), company officials said.
Under its contract with NASA, it must deliver 62,000 pounds over 10 missions, according to the company.
Orbital ATK is using another company’s rocket to launch this shipment, as it works to get its own rocket, the Antares, flying again.
This caused the flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket with Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft to be scrubbed.
For the second day in a row, the weather at Cape Canaveral, Florida, delayed the launch of much-needed food and other astronaut supplies Friday.
Orbital ATK competed with SpaceX to transport astronauts to the ISS under its contract with NASA. The launch team officially concluded their efforts at 6:11 p.m. EST (23:11 GMT).
Orbital accelerated plans to outfit Antares with new engines and purchased two Atlas rocket rides to fly Cygnus capsules to the station.
Launch Notes: OA-4 will mark the 60th launch of the Atlas V and the 30th launch in the 401 configuration.
MARROW: an experiment led by researchers at the University of Ottawa, to study how microgravity affects bone marrow and its cells, to benefit not only the astronauts who inhabit the space station, but also those with limited mobility here on Earth.
Investigators blamed the botched launch on a defective turbopump in one of Antares’ two main engines which was a refurbished Soviet-era motor constructed by Aerojet.
Orbital’s newest Cygnus capsule – named after the swan constellation – holds food, clothes, Christmas presents, spacewalking gear, high-pressure nitrogen and oxygen tanks for the air supply, and science experiments.
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Orbital’s rocket men acknowledge being a little nervous about the upcoming launch, even though the Atlas has been around for decades and is a tried and true workhorse.
