Space station shipment launched from Virginia

[Buster's Uncle]

Space station shipment launched from Virginia
Associated Press
By Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn  28 minutes ago



This photo provided by NASA, the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket launches with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, Sunday, July 13, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket will carry the Cygnus spacecraft filled with over 3,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station in the company's second contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A commercial cargo ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday, carrying food, science samples and new odor-resistant gym clothes for the resident crew.

Orbital Sciences Corp. launched its Cygnus capsule from the Virginia coast, its third space station delivery for NASA.

"It's like Christmas in July," said Frank Culbertson, an executive vice president at Orbital Sciences and former astronaut.

Daylight and clouds limited visibility, but observers from North Carolina to New Jersey still had a shot at seeing the rising Antares rocket. It resembled a bright light in the early afternoon sky.

Its destination, the space station, was soaring 260 miles above Australia when the Cygnus took flight. The unmanned capsule should arrive there Wednesday.

This newest Cygnus contains more than 3,000 pounds of supplies, much of it food. Also on board: mini-satellites, science samples, equipment and experimental exercise clothes. NASA said the new type of clothing is resistant to bacteria and odor buildup. So the astronauts won't smell as much during their two hours of daily workout in orbit and they'll require fewer clothing changes.



This photo provided by NASA, the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket launches with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, Sunday, July 13, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket will carry the Cygnus spacecraft filled with over 3,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station in the company's second contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)


NASA is paying for the delivery service. The space agency hired two companies — the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences and California's SpaceX — to keep the space station well stocked once the shuttle program ended. The international partners also make shipments; the European Space Agency, for example, will launch its final supply ship in 1½ weeks from French Guiana.

This particular Cygnus delivery was delayed a few months by various problems, including additional engine inspections and, most recently, bad weather at the Wallops Island launch site. The delays added to the tension for NASA's human exploration chief, Bill Gerstenmaier. He said he breathed a sigh of relief at liftoff given all the critical equipment on board, not to mention all the meals.

The Cygnus will remain at the space station for about a month. It will be filled with trash and cut loose for a fiery re-entry. Unlike the SpaceX Dragon capsule, the Cygnus is not built to return safely to Earth.

Saturday, meanwhile, marked the 5,000th day of continuous human habitation at the 260-mile-high outpost. Six men currently are on board, representing the United States, Russia and Germany.

"Humans are explorers!" German astronaut Alexander Gerst said via Twitter.

___

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html#.U8Ky_fldWSp

Orbital Sciences: https://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-2/


http://news.yahoo.com/space-station-shipment-launched-virginia-165405935.html

[Buster's Uncle]

U.S. cargo ship blasts off with supplies for space station
Reuters
By Irene Klotz  2 hours ago



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. July 13 (Reuters) - - An unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp Antares rocket blasted off from a seaside launch pad in Virginia on Sunday, sending a Cygnus cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station, a NASA Television broadcast showed.

The 133-foot-tall (41-meter-tall) rocket lifted off at 12:52 p.m. EDT/1652 GMT from a commercially operated launch pad at NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility on the Virginia coast.

Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences in partnership with Italy's Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture of Thales SA and Finmeccanica SpA.

The freighter was loaded with more than 3,660 pounds (1,660 kg) of food, science equipment and supplies for the space station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 264 miles (425 km) above Earth. The capsule was slated to reach the orbital outpost on Wednesday.

The mission is the second of eight station cargo runs by Orbital Sciences under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA.

Orbital Sciences made its first cargo run to the station in January. It has not yet announced other customers for its medium-lift Antares rocket, a two-stage booster that relies on Russian-built AJ-26 engines to power its first stage.

Orbital Sciences named the Cygnus ship launched on Sunday the SS Janice Voss, a tribute to Voss, a five-time shuttle astronaut and former Orbital Sciences engineer who died of breast cancer in 2012.

The capsule is expected to remain berthed at the space station for about a month. Once unloaded, it will be filled with garbage and items no longer needed by the station crew and redirected into the atmosphere for incineration.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)


http://news.yahoo.com/u-cargo-ship-blasts-off-174931749.html

[Geo]

I suppose you couldn't see it lift off since it probably goes over the Atlantic, but could you hear it from where you live, BUncle?

[Buster's Uncle]

Beats me.  I didn't know about it until afterwards.