Atlas V, Cygnus to make third launch try Saturday

The preliminary launch time is 4:44 p.m. EST at the opening of a 30-minute window. NASA will make its fourth launch attempt this afternoon.

There exists a sense of urgency in NASA’s mission as a result of the prior weather postponements, which has left the food stash aboard the International Space Station a couple of months below what Fox News reports to be their preferred six-month supply of rations.

Launch Updates: To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch,twitter.com/ulalaunch and instagram.com/ulalaunch; hashtags #Cygnus, #OA4 and #AtlasV. The weather is expected to improve, but still only 40 percent favorable.

“We’re ready to try again another day”, said Vernon Thorp, a program manager for United Launch Alliance, the rocket maker. A string of accidents has delayed the American shipments to the International Space Station.

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, launches from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas V, for this supply mission. The original S.S. Deke Slayton was the cargo craft lost in last year’s explosion.

The mission also marks Orbital’s first launch from Florida, and the first cargo mission to the ISS from American soil since SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was lost in June.

Jason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations.

The Cygnus capsule contains more than 7,000 pounds (3,200 kilograms) of crew supplies, hardware and scientific experiments.