Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station

November 6, 2022

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A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying greater than 4 tons of provides for the Worldwide House Station must wait not less than yet another day to launch after a fireplace alarm at its mission management middle thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6).

The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a deliberate liftoff at 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, when Northrop Grumman known as off the flight. A hearth alarm on the firm’s management middle in close by Dulles, Virginia, pressured a constructing evacuation, stopping launch controllers from going by way of with the launch.

“Our ideas are with their workforce their their security is on the prime most necessary, so we’re going to attempt it once more tomorrow,” NASA spokesperson Chelsey Ballarte stated throughout stay commentary. Liftoff is now set for Monday, Nov. 6, at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT). You may watch the Cygnus cargo launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, starting at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT).

Northrop Grumman will use its Antares rocket to launch the uncrewed NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft to the Worldwide House Station on a mission to ship greater than 8,200 kilos (3,720 kilograms) of provides to the lab’s astronaut crew. It’s the 18th cargo mission for NASA by Northrop Grumman.

Associated: Northrop Grumman’s Private Antares Rocket: 5 Surprising Facts

The upcoming launch can also be Northrop Grumman’s heaviest supply but, with the corporate squeezing in about 44 kilos (20 kg) of further provides because of refinements to the launch system. Amongst its valuable cargo are a bioprinter that can try to print human knee cartilage in space and cow ovarian cells to review how weightlessness impacts the expansion of cells.

If all goes properly, the NG-18 Cygnus cargo ship — which has been named the SS Sally Ride in honor of astronaut Sally Ride, the primary American lady in space who died in 2012 — ought to arrive on the space station on Wednesday (Nov. 10).
Electronic mail Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com (opens in new tab) or observe him @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab). Observe us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).