Rocket launch reignites space station deliveries in Virginia
Source: WTOP
Rocket launch reignites space station deliveries in Virginia
By MARCIA DUNN October 17, 2016 8:02 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — One of NASA’s main delivery companies launched its first space station shipment from Virginia in two years Monday night, lighting up the East Coast. ... It was the first flight of Orbital ATK’s unmanned Antares rocket since a launch explosion on Oct. 28, 2014, that wrecked the pad and destroyed everything on the space station supply run.
For the long-awaited comeback, the pad underwent a $15 million restoration, and the Antares got new Russian engines to replace the vintage ones from a half-century earlier. As the Antares streaked through the night sky from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, it appeared as though all the work had paid off. Launch controllers applauded when the supply ship reached orbit and victory was declared.
The launch provided a show for sky gazers along much of the East Coast, weather permitting, from Charleston, South Carolina, all the way to Boston.
Getting a lift from the Antares was Orbital ATK’s Cygnus capsule, loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of food, equipment and research, including some experiments to study flames in space and the robotic toy ball, Sphero, part of an educational effort.
Read more: http://wtop.com/virginia/2016/10/rocket-launch-reignites-space-station-deliveries-in-virginia/
I can personally attest to the launch, as I watched it from behind my house. It was quite the show. I had been looking farther north than what turned out to be the actual direction. Once I saw those flames, I quickly readjusted. Then I switched to my backyard, to get a better view. The trajectory took the rocket directly away from me. I got to watch until the rocket went behind the trees.
AP says they're reporting from Cape Canaveral, but the launch occurred at Wallops Island, Virginia. Buh-lieve me. I expect they'll clarify that later.
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Just kidding. 
