A rocket carrying an unmanned spacecraft erupted in flames after takeoff Tuesday.
The launch vehicle, dubbed Antares, exploded at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia after initial takeoff off at 3:22 p.m. PT. The rocket appeared to suffer a first-stage engine failure six seconds later before halting midair and falling back to Earth.
No personnel were in the area and only the launch site suffered damage from the explosion, NASA confirmed.
The Antares rocket is made by Orbital Sciences Corp. and carries an Orbital-made Cygnus CRS- 3 spacecraft ferrying about 5,000 pounds for resupplying the International Space Station, the heaviest payload to date for the Virginia-based rocket company.
The spacecraft was supposed to dock with the ISS on November 2 whereupon the six-person crew of Expedition 41 was to unload the supplies.
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Credit: www.cnet.com