Countdown to Antares Launch from Wallops Flight Facility

[Richard O'Neill]

*From:*GSFC-Communications
*Sent:* Thursday, January 09, 2014 9:57 AM
*To:* GSFC-DL-ALL
*Subject:* Countdown to Antares Launch from Wallops Flight Facility

The countdown for today's rescheduled launch of an Antares rocket 
carrying Orbital Sciences' Orbital-1 cargo resupply mission to the 
International Space Station began at 4:07 a.m. EST this morning. Orbital 
is targeting a 1:07 p.m. launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport 
Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia.

NASA-TV will offer comprehensive video feed of launch preparations 
starting at 12:15 p.m. Launch commentary coverage will begin at 12:45 
p.m. Go to http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv to watch online.

Because of our proximity to Wallops Flight Facility, the launch vehicle 
will also be visible from the Washington-Baltimore area. From Greenbelt, 
the launch vehicle should be visible to the east approximately 90 
seconds after launch.

The launch will be visible from beyond our area as well. A map showing 
the viewing range is available at: 
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/orbital.html.

Cygnus will carry 2,780 pounds of supplies to the International Space 
Station, including vital science experiments that will expand the 
research capabilities of the Expedition 38 crewmembers aboard the 
orbiting laboratory. The cargo also includes crew provisions, spare 
parts, science experiment hardware and 23 student experiments that will 
involve more than 10,000 students on the ground. These experiments will 
involve life sciences topics ranging from amoeba reproduction to bone 
calcium to salamanders.

Once the spacecraft arrives at the space station, Astronauts Michael 
Hopkins of NASA and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration 
Agency will capture the resupply vehicle with the station's robotic arm 
and install it on the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module.

This and future commercial resupply missions by Orbital Sciences and 
SpaceX will help ensure a strong national capability to deliver critical 
science research to orbit, significantly increasing NASA's ability to 
conduct new science investigations aboard the space station.



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