At 6:22 pm ET on October 28th, 2014, a rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station took off and subsequently blew up shortly after take off. It is a major setback, especially in light of NASAs recent decision to get rid of the Space Shuttle. The Russians have even issued a statement that they are willing to help us resupply the Space Station. It is a little ironic since the Russians have been posturing to be a super power again. NASA says they will regroup and learn from this experience. Fortunately, it was an unmanned space craft so no crew members were hurt. William Gerstenmaier, one of NASA’s top people in charge of this program, issued a statement:
The following statement is from William Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, regarding the launch failure that occurred at Pad 0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during the attempted launch of Orbital Sciences Corp’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft at 6:22 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28.
“While NASA is disappointed that Orbital Sciences’ third contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station was not successful today, we will continue to move forward toward the next attempt once we fully understand today’s mishap. The crew of the International Space Station is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies.
“Orbital has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in its first two missions to the station earlier this year, and we know they can replicate that success. Launching rockets is an incredibly difficult undertaking, and we learn from each success and each setback. Today’s launch attempt will not deter us from our work to expand our already successful capability to launch cargo from American shores to the International Space Station.”
The official statement can be read on NASA’s website.
Here are some videos of the explosion from different angles:
