Major Wallops Launch Set For Sunday

OCEAN CITY — Local residents and visitors on Sunday evening could have a front row seat for what should be quite a spectacle with a major rocket launch from NASA’s nearby Wallops Island Flight Facility scheduled.

NASA and its private-sector partner Northrup Grumman is expected to launch the Antares rocket on Sunday morning in at roughly 5:39 p.m. The Antares rocket will be carrying the Cygnus spacecraft, which will be delivering roughly 8,000 pounds of cargo including supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

The Antares measures about 131 feet tall, or roughly the equivalent of a 13-story building, and it’s the largest rocket launched from the Wallops Island Flight Facility. Depending on a variety of factors including the weather, the launch is expected to be visible across much of the eastern U.S. from South Carolina to Massachusetts and as far west as Ohio.

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