Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station

[Boats]

Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station
By: Tariq Malik - Space.com News 11-06-22 ~ 10hrs ago
Re: https://www.space.com/northrop-grumm...yed-fire-alarm

The Antares rocket and NG-18 Cygnus cargo ship are in good health and set to launch on Monday, Nov. 7.

Photo link: https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CZ...70-80.jpg.webp
The launch of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying NASA cargo to the space station was delayed by a fire alarm in mission control on Nov. 6, 2022. (Image credit: NASA TV)

A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying more than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station will have to wait at least one more day to launch after a fire alarm at its mission control center thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6).

The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a planned liftoff at 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, when Northrop Grumman called off the flight. A fire alarm at the company's control center in nearby Dulles, Virginia, forced a building evacuation, preventing launch controllers from going through with the launch.

"Our thoughts are with their team their their safety is at the top most important, so we are going to try it again tomorrow," NASA spokesperson Chelsey Ballarte said during live commentary. Liftoff is now set for Monday, Nov. 6, at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT). You can watch the Cygnus cargo launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT).

Northrop Grumman will use its Antares rocket to launch the uncrewed NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station on a mission to deliver more than 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of supplies to the lab's astronaut crew. It is the 18th cargo mission for NASA by Northrop Grumman.

Related: Northrop Grumman's Private Antares Rocket: 5 Surprising Facts

The upcoming launch is also Northrop Grumman's heaviest delivery yet, with the company squeezing in about 44 pounds (20 kg) of additional supplies due to refinements to the launch system. Among its precious cargo are a bioprinter that will attempt to print human knee cartilage in space and cow ovarian cells to study how weightlessness affects the growth of cells.

If all goes well, the NG-18 Cygnus cargo ship — which has been named the SS Sally Ride in honor of astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space who died in 2012  — should arrive at the space station on Wednesday (Nov. 10).
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Personal Note: With everything that's going on - here on Earth - we are still launching
elements into space. One can only hope that with our current situations overseas
they don't read it as an attack on their country - and start firing off rockets.
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