Humongous explosion destroys space station supply rocket

A private Orbital Sciences-built cargo launch to the International Space Station ended in a fiery explosion just seconds after liftoff Tuesday night (Oct. 28).

Orbital's unmannedAntares rocket exploded in a brilliant fireballshortly after launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 6:22 p.m. EDT (2222 GMT), crashing back down to the launch pad in a flaming heap. The Antares was carrying Orbital's unmanned Cygnus spacecraft, which was toting 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) of food, scientific experiments and other supplies on this flight the third cargo mission to the space station under a $1.9 billion contract the company holds with NASA. You cansee photos of the Antares rocket explosion here.

A NASA spokesman described the explosion as a "catastrophic anomaly" during a NASA TV webcast.While the assessment and investigation of the accident have just begun, NASA emergency operations officials report no injuries, Orbital Sciences representatives said. Property damage is limited to the south end of Wallops Island, they added. [Listen to a first-hand account of the rocket explosion]

"It is far too early to know the details of what happened," Orbital executive vice president Frank Culbertson, a former NASA astronaut,said in a statement. "We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident. As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nations space program."

The combined value of the Antares and Cygnus lost during Tuesday's mishap is about $200 million, Culbertson said during a post-crash news conference Tuesday.

People who live near Wallops have been warned not to touch any objects that may be pieces of the Antares rocket, as such debris could be contaminated with rocket fuel or other hazardous material. If you find something that may be Antares debris, call NASA's incident response team at(757) 824-1295.

Orbital Sciences representatives were tracking no problems in the leadup to the launch. But upon ignition it soon became clear that something was wrong, said Robert Pearlman, editor of the space history news websitecollectSPACE.com(a Space.com partner).Pearlmanwatched the launch failure from just a few miles away at NASA's press site observation area.

"As the vehicle was climbing off the pad, there was something trailing a smoke and fire plume from the rocket itself trailing from the rocket all the way up," Pearlman told Space.com. "As it cleared the top of the water tower, there was a clear break-apart, and the booster's integrity failed. There was then a tremendous fireball, trailed by a very loud explosion. Parts were sent flying everywhere, and then the vehicle fell back to the pad, exploding in an even larger fireball, setting the entire area on fire."

Tuesday night's launch try was Orbital's second attempt to launch the Antares rocket in two days. A launch attempt on Monday night was scrubbed when a boat wandered into the launch range safety area offshore.

NASA has tappedOrbital Sciencesto provide eight cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station using the company's Antares rockets and unmanned Cygnus spacecraft.The Virginia-based company launched its first official cargo mission to the space station earlier this year in January, with a second mission following in July. Both missions, as well as two test flights in 2013, were a success.

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Humongous explosion destroys space station supply rocket