The launch of the Antares rocket carrying supplies and scientific equipment to the International Space Station was rescheduled from Monday evening to Tuesday evening due to a wayward sailboat entered the restricted zone underneath the rocket's flight path. The launch is now scheduled to 6:22 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
The Orbital Science Corp. mission was within 10 minutes of lifting off last night before officials made the call to halt the countdown. The mission received attention over the weekend as the Antares rocket is supposed to be viewable from many miles away for those near the NASA facility in Wallops, Virginia, in fact, most of the East Coast--from parts of Massachussettes to South Carolina--should be able to see the rocket blast off, weather permitting.
How to Watch the Mission
If you're on the East Coast, you might want to head outside around 6:20 pm ET, provided you have a clear view of the horizon. The Antares rocket should appear like a small star shooting up into the sky to those who see it.
If you can't make it outside, or if you don't live in the area, you can also view the launch online. NASA will be broadcasting the event live here, so check it out. Also, NASA will broadcast the docking of the Cygnus capsule when it arrives at the ISS on Nov. 3, which should be very cool to watch, and you can check it out on NASA's website.
Future Missions
Orbital Sciences is currently in the middle of a contract with NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS through 2016. Tonight will be the fourth of Orbital's scheduled eight missions to ISS and will deliver a reported 5,050 pounds of supplies and equipment to the space station. Orbital will deliver over 40,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS over the length of it's $1.9 billion contract with NASA. Supplies on these missions typically include food, clothes, goods for the crew, spare parts and equipment and scientific experiments.
Orbital is just one private company that NASA has contracted with to ferry supplies and crew to the ISS after the space shuttle program was retired in 2011. Elon Musk's SpaceX is also currently making trips to the ISS with its Dragon spacecraft, and SpaceX and Boeing were both recently awarded a joint contract to both develop new spacecraft to deliver goods to the ISS and also to deliver goods and crew into orbit over the next several years.
