Wallops To Launch Rocket Next Week To Space Station

WALLOPS ISLAND — Another significant launch event is set for next week from the Wallops Island Flight Facility with Orbital Sciences expected to send up an Antares rocket carrying needed supplies to the International Space Station.

Four the second time in about four months, NASA and its private sector partner Orbital Sciences is expected to launch a major Antares rocket from the Wallops Island Flight Facility along the Virginia coast just south of the resort area. The launch is tentatively set for Tuesday at 1:55 p.m. and, weather permitting, should be visible across the mid-Atlantic region from New York to the Carolinas with the best vistas of the rocket streaming across the Tuesday afternoon sky in areas in close proximity to Wallops including Assateague and Ocean City.

The Antares rocket will carry Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. The cargo craft will be fitted with 2,780 pounds of supplies for the station, including vital science experiments to expand the research capability of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory along with crew provisions, spare parts and experiment hardware.
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