Bad weather conditions delay USA shipment to International Space Station

A rocket launch to supply cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) by American aerospace manufacturer Orbital ATK has been pushed back due to adverse weather conditions.

Orbital ATK’s uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on December 3, 2015. The launch will be the first for Orbital ATK’s Cygnus aircraft since its Antares rocket exploded seconds after liftoff from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on October 28 2014.

Cygnus is on a mission to deliver 3,300 kiligrams (almost 6,614 pounds) of supplies to the International Space Station.

The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V — a mighty successor of the rocket used to put John Glenn in orbit in 1962 — has never been used before on a space station mission.

“The winds were just a couple of knots too high, so we just didn’t feel comfortable launching tonight”, said Vernon Thorp, the NASA programs manager for United Launch Alliance, whose Atlas V rocket is carrying the Orbital payload aloft. The last successful USA cargo mission to the station was the previous Dragon mission in April.

While the astronauts are not in any danger due to low cargo, the Antares explosion, a Russian Progress vehicle accident and a SpaceX Falcon 9 failure cut off multiple ways to bring material to the Space Station. Still grounded in Virginia, Orbital ATK bought another company’s rocket, the veteran Atlas, to get supplies moving again and fulfill its NASA contract.

“So we’re looking forward to having those supplies being replenished” by Thursday’s cargo mission, he added. The space agency’s last commercial shipment occurred almost eight months ago. The upgraded Antares rocket should start flying from there in 2016. Although the space station is limping along on smaller loads of supplies provided by Japanese and European craft, the Orbital mission is carrying some much-needed replacement parts.

The 4-inch cube houses a camera for Earth picture-taking, as well as a crucifix and religious medal blessed by Pope Francis.