ULA Atlas V OA-4 Launch Set for Dec

High wind once again threatened to keep space station supplies stuck on Earth.

Rain and thick clouds scrubbed the NASA resupply mission’s first launch attempt on Thursday.

Weather and wind conditions are now only providing a 40 percent chance of being favorable for launch.

This is the third day in a row that bad weather has forced a postponement.

NASA is anxious to get its commercial supply chain moving again.

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). Its two suppliers have been grounded for months by launch accidents, and the station pantry needs restocking. Christmas presents also are on board.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 46 will begin aboard the station under the continued command of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.

Mark Kelly is a retired astronaut as well as an author; his “Mousetronaut” and “Mousetronaut Goes to Mars” are among seven storybooks inside the Cygnus.

The Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-4 mission is the first to employ the longer, “enhanced”, PCM which can carry a greater volume of cargo than the PCM flown on previous missions, and lightweight UltraFlex arrays developed and built by Orbital ATK’s Goleta, California, facility. On board since March, he’ll be up there until the beginning of this coming March.

Displaying a can-do attitude, the team pressed on and rest the launch for Sunday, Dec. 6, with the launch window opening at 4:44 p.m. EST (21:44 p.m. GMT).