More Bad Weather as NASA Tries For Space Station Delivery

Rocket/Payload: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch Orbital ATK’s Cygnus™ spacecraft on the initial leg of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft carries over 7,700 pounds of cargo with clothing, food, supplies, a prototype satellite, experiment equipment, and two Microsoft HoloLens headsets for the International Space Station (ISS).

An Orbital Cygnus spacecraft, perched atop an Atlas 5 rocket from United Launch Alliance – a Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co joint venture – had been slated for liftoff at 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT).

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready shortly before a launch attempt was scrubbed due to poor weather conditions on launch complex 41at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The use of the Atlas for this Cygnus mission, and a second planned for March 2016, is a stopgap measure by Orbital ATK as it upgrades its Antares rocket.

It was not immediately announced when the next launch attempt would be if the weather does not cooperate again Friday evening. That’s because of launch accidents by NASA’s two commercial suppliers.

A successful launch would restart the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s effort to commercialize resupply missions to the ISS.

You can watch coverage of the Cygnus launch starting at 4:30 p.m. ET directly through NASA TV or in the window embedded below. The fourth, however, the Deke Slayton I, which lifted off on October 29, 2014, was destroyed when the Antares rocket booster it was attached to exploded just moments after leaving the launch pad. SpaceX will now launch its Falcon 9 rocket, equipped with Crew Dragon spacecraft, at the launch site in Florida.

Kaber: although not designed or built in Canada, this new component for the station will be used by Dextre – the space station’s Canadian-built robotic “handyman” – to launch microsatellites into Earth orbit. A second Atlas will make a supply run for Orbital in March, before the Antares is back in business.

If all goes according to plan, in a few days, Commander Scott Kelly, who is now spending one year in space, can look forward to unloading more food supplies, clothes and plenty of science experiments – the results of which can help benefit future missions.