UPDATED: 4:00 p.m. PDT (7:00 p.m. EDT), Oct. 28. A mishap occurred shortly after liftoff. Orbital has declared a contingency. NASA and Orbital are still determining when a press conference will be held. For more information as it becomes available, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/
UPDATED: 5:19 p.m. PDT (8:19 p.m. EDT), Oct. 27.
The next launch attempt for Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket is scheduled for 3:22 p.m. PDT (6:22 p.m. EDT) Tuesday, Oct. 28 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Monday's launch attempt was scrubbed because of a boat down range in the trajectory Antares would have flown had it lifted off.
A dramatic Virginia sunrise frames the launchpad where a JPL-built instrument sits, poised for launch on the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket this afternoon. The launchpad is at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The photo was taken on Sunday, Oct. 26. The rocket is delivering the tiny satellite - called the Radiometer Atmospheric Cubesat Experiment (RACE, for short) - as part of its load of supplies for the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. PDT (6:45 p.m. EDT).
RACE will test new technology to measure water vapor, a measurement important for climate and weather studies. CubeSats are small, lightweight and low-cost satellites.
Image credit: NASA/ Joel Kowsky