Wallops NASA rocket finally blasts off Sunday

Up soared Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket Sunday with a calico sky as a backdrop, heralding the cargo program’s first use of the Wallops Flight Facility in more than a year.

“That was worth it,” said Linda McDermott of Frankford, Delaware, moments after the spacecraft erupted from the launch pad in a burst of smoke and fire. She was one of hundreds watching from Wallops’ visitors center. “That was amazing.”

The wait added an unexpected day after a planned launch Saturday was scrubbed at the last minute. A small aircraft strayed into the restricted area with two minutes to spare on the countdown, forcing the private company to shelve the liftoff for nearly 24 hours.

But that hiccup didn't seem to affect Sunday's performance.

“Beautiful morning and beautiful launch," said Dan Hartman, NASA's deputy space station program manager.

If there was a sliver lining to the stoppage, it enabled Orbital to demonstrate that it could bounce back quickly from a late scratch, said Kurt Eberly, the Antares deputy program manager.

“It was a good exercise for what we’ve been planning for," he said. 

In between the two attempts, workers topped off the fuel tanks with liquid oxygen. The only significant issue came when a pre-launch engine-cooling task took longer than expected, pushing back the liftoff to the end of its five-minute window, Eberly said.

“Compared to yesterday," he added, "today was more boring, and that’s the way we like it.” 

The unmanned rocket is laden with 7,400 pounds of supplies and science experiments on its way to the International Space Station. Its inventory ranges from tiny satellites to a Thanksgiving dinner for the crew.

The Cygnus spacecraft embedded within the rocket at launch is expected to rendezvous at 4:50 a.m. Tuesday with the six astronauts aboard the floating laboratory. That would be Orbital's fastest journey to the space station in its eight launch attempts, said Frank DeMauro of Orbital ATK.

The Antares rocket, powered for the second time with stronger RD-181 engines, raced into the sky at 7:19 a.m., just after sunrise. 

Turnout at Wallops’ visitors center was roughly one-third smaller Sunday compared to Saturday’s first attempt. But their cheer competed nonetheless with the rumbling growl of the rocket's dual engines.

Many of those who did arrive in the bracing, predawn hours were people like Bob Bryant: committed.

He had shown up Saturday on an empty stomach, and he wasn’t about to let that happen again. This time, he cooked a full breakfast of eggs, hash browns and sausage on a camp stove perched on his pickup’s tailgate.

"We were sitting here for three hours yesterday, and it was a lot colder than it is today. We've tailgated at sporting events, so I thought why can't we do that at a rocket launch," he said.

There was no question he would return for the second attempt Sunday. He has tinkered with Estes rockets since he was a kid and introduced the hobby line to his own two sons.

“I shouldn’t say I was surprised” by Saturday’s delay, said Bryant, a former general manager of the Salisbury-Ocean City: Wicomico Regional Airport. “When you come here, things happen.”

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But they shouldn't, NASA officials say. Mariners and pilots are warned weeks in advance through formal channels to avoid the restricted area off the coast of Wallops Island during launches, Hartman said.

Saturday's 7:37 a.m. takeoff was halted at the last minute when range managers spotted via radar a small aircraft flying six miles offshore at about 500 feet. It's unclear whether that pilot will face any sanction; in response to an email from a DelmarvaNow and Daily Times reporter, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman offered to provide a response Monday.

Even after Saturday's debacle, some boats and another aircraft came uncomfortably close Sunday and had to be chased off, Eberly said. 

In light of the incidents, NASA and the FAA will analyze the current procedure and possibly recommend more salient ways of alerting the public, Hartman said. The next Antares launch at Wallops is scheduled for May 2018.

After the astronauts remove all the supplies from the Cygnus, they will refill it with trash. The spacecraft is set to be released from the space station on Dec. 4 and burn up as it reenters Earth's atmosphere.

Saturday's scrub may have been frustrating for sky watchers who had meticulously planned their trips well in advance. But it was a boon to those who take life as it comes.

That category would include McDermott, who was paying her first visit Sunday. She wasn't aware of the launch until she read about the scrubbed attempt the day before, she said. 

"A spur of the moment thing," said her husband, Ian.

"Retirement has its benefits," she chimed in.

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