This Is a Good Rocket Face
The Antares rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Saturday, November 2 at 9:59 a.m. EDT, and will be visible across much of the eastern U.S.
Both the Antares rocket and the Cygnus cargo carrier received upgrades that will make them more powerful and able to carry more mass.
This is the 12th time the rocket has resupplied the International Space Station, and the heaviest commercial payload launched from an American resupply ship.
On Saturday morning, just before 10 a.m. EDT, the Antares rocket will launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore and shoot up—propelled by two RD-181 first stage engines—toward the International Space Station (ISS). This will be the 12th resupply mission for Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket, which will ferry a record-breaking payload—8,200 pounds of research equipment, food, and supplies to the ISS’s awaiting crew.
This launch is special, though. It will debut an upgraded Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo carrier, which is stronger and can send heavier loads into space—10 percent more than previous missions, according to Spaceflight Now.
The new, more stable rocket frame of the 139-foot Antares 230 rocket allows it to operate a full throttle for the entire duration of the first stage burn, until it reaches its g-force limit. Previously, the rocket flew at full throttle for, at most, 20 seconds. The trajectory also got an upgrade.
The rocket will ascend into a lower orbit, leaving Cygnus to pick up the slack. The Cygnus cargo carrier has more room for scientific equipment, more communications, and telemetry instruments, and six powered lockers in which to store these devices.
Want to watch the launch? It’s scheduled to lift off from Wallops at 9:59 a.m. EDT, weather permitting, and will arrive at the ISS on Monday, November 4.
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