Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station - Space.com

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The Northrop Grumman Antares NG-18 rocket connected the motorboat pad astatine Wallops Flight Facility successful Virginia connected Nov. 6, 2022.

The motorboat of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying NASA cargo to the abstraction presumption was delayed by a occurrence alarm successful ngo power connected Nov. 6, 2022. (Image credit: NASA TV)

A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying much than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station volition person to hold astatine slightest 1 much time to motorboat aft a occurrence alarm astatine its ngo power halfway thwarted a liftoff aboriginal Sunday (Nov. 6).

The Antares rocket was astir 10 minutes distant from a planned liftoff astatine 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility connected Wallops Island, Virginia, erstwhile Northrop Grumman called disconnected the flight. A occurrence alarm astatine the company's power halfway successful adjacent Dulles, Virginia, forced a gathering evacuation, preventing motorboat controllers from going done with the launch.

"Our thoughts are with their squad their their information is astatine the apical astir important, truthful we are going to effort it again tomorrow," NASA spokesperson Chelsey Ballarte said during unrecorded commentary. Liftoff is present acceptable for Monday, Nov. 6, astatine 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT). You tin watch the Cygnus cargo motorboat unrecorded connected Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, opening astatine 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT).

Northrop Grumman volition usage its Antares rocket to motorboat the uncrewed NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station connected a ngo to present much than 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of supplies to the lab's astronaut crew. It is the 18th cargo ngo for NASA by Northrop Grumman.

The upcoming motorboat is besides Northrop Grumman's heaviest transportation yet, with the institution squeezing successful astir 44 pounds (20 kg) of further supplies owed to refinements to the motorboat system. Among its precious cargo are a bioprinter that volition effort to people quality genu cartilage successful abstraction and cattle ovarian cells to survey however weightlessness affects the maturation of cells.

If each goes well, the NG-18 Cygnus cargo ship — which has been named the SS Sally Ride successful grant of astronaut Sally Ride, the archetypal American pistillate successful abstraction who died successful 2012 — should get astatine the abstraction presumption connected Wednesday (Nov. 10).
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Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the squad successful 2001, archetypal arsenic an intern and unit writer, and aboriginal arsenic an editor. He covers quality spaceflight, exploration and abstraction science, arsenic good arsenic skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor successful 2009 and Editor-in-Chief successful 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a unit newsman for The Los Angeles Times covering acquisition and metropolis beats successful La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award (opens successful caller tab) for excellence successful abstraction reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is besides an Eagle Scout (yes, helium has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp 4 times arsenic a kid and a 5th clip arsenic an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. To spot his latest project, you tin travel Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik (opens successful caller tab).

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