Yesterday morning an Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a mission to resupply the International Space Station. The Cygnus Resupply Vehicle, named the SS John Glenn, is carrying over 3,000 kilograms of cargo to the Space Station as part of Orbital Sciences contract with NASA to provide commercial cargo transportation to the space station, and actually marks the end of its initial contract – There will be 4 following missions as part of an extended contract. These following 4 missions will also use the new version of the Antares launch vehicle, the older version being responsible for the CRS OA-3 mission failure at launch back in October 2014. Atlas V was chosen as an alternative launch vehicle as the next generation Antares is being developed.
This was otherwise a pretty typical launch, but it was set to have the worlds first live 360 degree launch view, which didn’t go over so well (article on that coming up). A nice one, as always – I’ve really grown fond of the Atlas V as time has passed – seems like each launch gets better and better camera work than the one before it.
Enjoy!