Rain Clouds Cause Orbital Rocket Launch Rescheduling to Friday, Dec. 4

Summary: Thick rain clouds over Cape Canaveral Thursday, Dec. 3, account for the Orbital rocket launch rescheduling to Friday, Dec. 4, at 5:33 p.m. EST.

Atlas V and Cygnus stand ready for launching at Pad 41, Dec. 2, 2015: Michael Seeley from Melbourne, Florida, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Thick clouds portending rainy possibilities over Cape Canaveral, Florida, caused the Orbital rocket launch rescheduling from 5:55 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, to 5:33 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4.

A thirty-minute launch window begins at 5:33 p.m. (22:33 Coordinated Universal Time) on Friday for the Orbital rocket launch rescheduling. With liftoff, the launch debuts first-time occasions for resupply flights in terms of components (rocket, spacecraft), mission deployer, launch site and berthing port at the International Space Station.

Launching at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is set for Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41), the historical point of departure for Helios probes for studying the Sun, Viking missions to Mars and Voyager outer planet missions. Orbital’s December liftoff marks the first launch, destined for the International Space Station, from Complex 41.

Upon arrival at its destination, the Cygnus spacecraft is berthing at the International Space Station’s six-berth Unity connecting module. Nadir is designated as Cygnus’s berth. Previous resupply flights docked at the Harmony connecting module.

The rescheduled launch features an Atlas V rocket, an expendable launch system operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). As a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space and Security, United Launch Alliance has served as spacecraft launch provider for NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and other governmental launch customers since the joint aerospace venture’s founding in December 2006.

Orbital’s fourth contracted mission, labeled as OA-4, is being deployed by United Launch Alliance. The launch marks United Launch Alliance’s first-time participation in a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Orbital’s contract with United Launch Alliance allows for involvement in a second launch.

This month’s launch also debuts an enhanced Cygnus. The spacecraft’s new design allows for a larger payload, by way of an enlarged pressurized module, than on previous missions. The enhanced Cygnus that launches atop the Atlas V rocket is named SS Deke Slayton II as the second Cygnus honoring astronaut Donald Kent “Deke” Slayton. NASA’s first Chief of the Astronaut Office succumbed to a brain tumor on June 13, 1993. The first Deke Slayton namesake Cygnus spacecraft was destroyed in a launch pad explosion in October 2014.

A successful launch of the rescheduled supply run reactivates the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts awarded to Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) and California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) by the National Aeronautics and Space  Administration (NASA) on Dec. 23, 2008. NASA’s program of commercially delivered cargo and supplies has been grounded after two successive launch failures in 2014 and 2015. On Orbital’s third resupply mission, on Oct. 28, 2014, the aerospace manufacturer’s Antares rocket exploded about 15 seconds after liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) launch pad on Wallops Island, Virginia. Then, on SpaceX’s seventh resupply mission, on June 28, 2015, the Dragon spacecraft’s Falcon 9 rocket broke up just over two minutes after liftoff (T+139 seconds).

Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft is laden with 7,745 pounds (3,513 kilograms) of equipment, scientific experiments, provisions (food and clothing) and supplies for the six-member American and Russian team of Expedition 45 on the International Space Station. Equipment necessary for repairing November’s Friday the 13th power outage on the International Space Station, however, is not included in Cygnus’s cargo. Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft already was fully loaded and launch-ready. Rather than unpacking the spacecraft’s cargo, NASA plans to include the equipment in SpaceX’s next resupply run, scheduled for early in 2016.

Fairly cooperative weather as the launch window approaches for the Orbital rocket launch rescheduling on Friday, Dec. 4, yields hope of "Go!" for OA-4.

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft stand at Space Launch Complex 41: NASA @NASA via Twitter Dec. 4, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Atlas V with Cygnus at Pad 41: Michael Seeley from Melbourne, Florida, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OA-4_Cygnus_AtlasV_on_the_pad_(22855345173).jpg

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft stand at Space Launch Complex 41: NASA‏ @NASA via Twitter Dec. 4, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/NASA/status/672834149972094977

For further information:

Graham, William. "Cygnus returns to space via Atlas V launch." NASA Spaceflight. Dec. 6, 2015.
Available @ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/12/cygnus-return-atlas-v-launch/

NASA‏ @NASA. "Update: Weather forecast upgraded to 40% ‘go' for today’s #Cygnus launch at 5:33pm ET." Twitter. Dec. 4, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASA/status/672834149972094977

Saito, Yasufumi, and Julie Johnsson. "Bloomberg > News. Dec. 3, 2015.
Available @ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-03/orbital-launch-of-resupply-mission-for-space-station-is-delayed

Siceloff, Steven. "Cygnus Segment Arrives to Begin Processing for ISS Resupply Mission." NASA > Feature > Commercial Resupply. Aug. 11, 2015.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/feature/cygnus-segment-arrives-to-begin-processing-for-iss-resupply-mission