Final Antares launch a success

Picture courtesy of Cara Burton.

The 19^th and final Antares rocket was launched Tuesday night from the Wallops Flight Facility. The Cygnus cargo space craft will deliver 8200 pounds of food, equipment, and scientific experiments to the crew of the International Space Station.  Cygnus doesn’t just deliver supplies – it also carries experiments! Cygnus has carried up plants, human cells, cancer therapies and even 40 mice to understand how microgravity affects these typically Earth-bound entities.

Another unique capability of Cygnus is the capability to reboost the station back up to its orbit 250 miles above Earth.

The Cygnus is expected to rendezvous with the ISS early Friday morning.  It will dock at approximately 5:30 a.m.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A is Antares’ dedicated launch pad. Built in 2011, the pad has been used for NASA resupply missions since 2013. The iconic 307-foot tall water tower holds 200K gallons of water for cooling & noise suppression during launch.

The Antares is powered by rocket engines from the Ukraine.  This launch will be the last in the series and will use the last of these engines.