A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is raised into a vertical position on Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on Feb. 5, 2020. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images)
Northrop Grumman delayed a space station delivery from Virginia on Feb. 9 because of trouble with ground equipment.
The company came within two to three minutes of launching a cargo ship from Wallops Island to the International Space Station for NASA. With rain and clouds in the forecast this week, the launch was bumped to at least Thursday.
In this NASA handout, A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen out of the back of a boat at sunrise on Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Feb. 9, 2020. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images)
The capsule atop Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket holds 4 tons of supplies, including cheese and candy for the three space station residents. The astronauts were monitoring the countdown, but the live video feed cut off and they did not learn about the delay until Mission Control radioed the news a half-hour later.
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is horizontal for the final cargo load on Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Feb. 7, 2020. (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images)
SpaceX also is under contract with NASA to deliver station supplies. Its next shipment is in March.
By Marcia Dunn
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