Atlas V rocket has successful launch to space station – USA TODAY

USA Today Network James Dean, Florida Today Published 12:23 p.m. ET April 18, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Launched from Cape Canaveral on board an Atlas V rocket, the next round of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station. (April 18) AP

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.(Photo: Craig Bailey, Florida Today)

CAPE CANAVERALGodspeed, SSJohn Glenn.

An unmanned cargo ship named in honor of the pioneering astronaut is on its way to the International Space Station after launching from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday atop a modern version of the Atlas rocket Glenn rode into orbit in 1962.

United Launch Alliances 19-story Atlas V thundered from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Launch Complex 41 at 11:11 a.m. ET Tuesday, punching through a few puffy clouds as it angled northeastover the Atlantic Ocean.

Twenty-one minutes later, an Orbital ATK Cygnus craft packed with more than 7,600 pounds of food, supplies and experiments separated from the rockets Centaur upper stage.

Related:What to know about Tuesday's Atlas V rocket launch

Just a fantastic launch, said Joel Montalbano, deputy manager of NASA's International Space Station program.

Rendezvous at the research outpost orbiting 250 miles overhead is planned around 6 a.m. Saturday, two days after a NASA astronaut and Russian cosmonaut are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan and join three Expedition 51 crew members onthe station.

Research aboard the Cygnus includesa minifridge-sized plant growth chamber led by KSC, tests of a chemotherapy drug that could better target cancer cellsand a student experiment analyzingDNA to study the aging process.

Other equipment includes gear needed for aspacewalk planned next monthand 38 tiny satellites called CubeSats that will deployfrom either the station or the Cygnus.

Also on board: Easter treats.

The resupply mission originally was scheduled to launch a month ago, but was delayed by problems with hydraulics on ground systems and on the rockets main engine.

We are sorry we missed Easter, but were pretty sure (the astronauts will) be excited about their Easter baskets, said Frank Culbertson, head of Orbital ATKs Space Systems Group.

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Orbital ATK has named each of its Cygnus spacecraft in tribute to influential astronauts.

Glenn, the Mercury astronaut and former U.S. senator who died last December at 95, was the first American to orbit Earth at the dawn of the space race with the Soviet Union, and later became the oldest person in space as a 77-year-old crew member aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1998.

Culbertson, a former NASA astronaut, called Glenn's missions "pathfinding and groundbreaking," particularly the first one flown with a "primitive" Atlas rocket and Friendship 7 capsule.

"Its a real honor for us to be associated with such an American hero and a pioneer in the space program," he said. "He always set a great example for Americans American youth, American technologyin pushing us beyond what we have been able to do in the past. I hope that putting his name on the space stationis an inspiration to the next generation to aspire do similar things: Push the boundaries."

The Cygnus carried mementos for Glenn's family, who could not attend the launch due to its delays.

Launch teams on Tuesday also paid tribute to a longtime voice of NASA launches,George Diller. A member of Kennedy Space Center's public affairs team since 1979, Diller called his final liftoff on NASA TV before he retiresnext month.

"Its been a good heck of a ride," he said afterward of his career. "I couldnt do better if Id have been riding a rocket."

Tuesdays launch was the seventh of 11 Cygnus missions under a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract worth more than $2billion. It was third of those missions launched by ULAs Atlas V, which can lift heavier loads thanOrbital ATKs own Antares rocket based on Virginias Eastern Shore. The next Antares launch is targeted for September.

ULA completed its fourth launchthis year. Its next launch, of a NASA tracking and data relay satellite,is planned in early August.

SpaceX is next up on the Eastern Range. A Falcon 9 rocket is targeting an April 30 launch of a classified National Reconnaissance Office mission from Kennedy Space Centers pad 39A, and a booster landing back at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Related:Space salad? Plant experiment hitching a ride to space station

Follow James Dean on Twitter:@flatoday_jdean

360 Glitch

A launch pad camera promoted as providing the first 360-degree views of a rocket launch wasn't quite ready for prime time Tuesday as a United Launch AllianceAtlas V blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with nearly 900,000 pounds of thrust.

Starting about 10 minutes before the 11:11 a.m. liftoff, viewers on NASA TV's YouTube channel could manipulate the image to pan around Launch Complex 41 and look up and down the 19-story rocket. But the picture froze in the countdown's final seconds, and when itfinally refreshed, the rocket was gone.

"This is the first time that this has ever been attempted and while the 360 degreeswould have been a unique look at launch, we still have incredible video of today's successful liftoff of the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station from multiple other cameras that provide a variety of views," said United Launch Alliance spokeswoman LynChassagne. "We will review today's 360-degreesetup and endeavor to bring this new perspective of a rocket launch to everyone in the future."

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Atlas V rocket has successful launch to space station - USA TODAY