Pics Strong winds over the launch site and thick cloud cover have led NASA to delay its planned resupply mission to the International Space Station. If there is a scrub today due to the weather, there is only a 30 per cent chance of clear launch conditions on Thursday. (3,500 kilograms) of food, supplies and scientific gear, including a tiny cubesat built by middle-school students in Virginia (which itself is carrying a golden medallion that was blessed by the Pope).
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The Cygnus OA-4 cargo vessel, named the S.S. Deke Slayton II, has a launch window scheduled from 5:55 p.m.to 6:25 p.m. EST today.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready for launch with cargo for delivery to the International Space Station on launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, F… Current weather forecasts predict just a 30 percent chance of good conditions on Friday.
But NASA has said it is confident in the two companies and is eager to resume flying cargo missions to the space station, which has been resupplied by other countries. Orbital ATK says that until the Antares returns to service in 2016, future Cygnus missions will rely on the ULA Atlas V rocket. The Dulles-based company had been scheduled to fly cargo to the International Space Station for the first time since its rocket exploded more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, work continues on the ground to get USA cargo launches back on track.
This time, Orbital ATK is using United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket for the launch, while it upgrades its Antares rocket, which failed due to a problem with its reconditioned Ukrainian engine.
Resupplying the station has been a challenge for NASA, following not only Orbital’s accident but also the loss of a Russian Progress ship in April and a SpaceX Dragon capsule in June.
The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V – a mighty successor of the rocket used to put John Glenn in orbit in 1962 – has never been used before on a space station mission.
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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.
