Unmanned Antares rocket explodes on launch

http://socialnetworkingnews.org/unmanned-antares-rocket-explodes-on-launch/

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – An unmanned commercial rocket headed for the International Space Station to deliver supplies exploded just after launching Tuesday, filling the sky with a massive fireball.

The Antares rocket supplied by contractor Orbital Sciences blew up six seconds after liftoff at NASA’s space launch facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the space agency said.

The explosion destroyed the rocket and spacecraft and immediately raised questions about the future of NASA’s reliance on private commercial ventures to carry vital payloads into space to supply and support the orbiting space station.

NASA and Orbital Sciences were gathering data to determine the cause of the failure of the Orbital CRS-3, the space agency said. No injuries were reported.

“There has been a vehicle anomaly,” Orbital Sciences, the contractor supplying the rocket, said on its Twitter feed. It added later in a statement, “The vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure.”

Source: www.usatoday.com

See on Scoop.it – social networking

http://socialnetworkingnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/92868a37-477d-47b1-b5bc-cde88f4e28ed.jpg