Antares rocket that exploded on Tuesday, shortly after taking off from Wallops base in the state of Virginia, was deliberately destroyed by handling – NASA spokesman, quoted by CNN. Launcher exploded and fell to the ground just six seconds after
apart from the starting platform.
As mentioned, during take-off the rocket has been seriously damaged, which could cause a change in the flight path and pose a threat to people in range. Therefore, it was decided to start the self-destruct system before the missile struck the ground.
Antares rocket transported unmanned Cygnus transport ship that was supposed to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the plan, Cygnus had to start on Monday, but the flight was canceled for a few minutes before the start and was postponed to Tuesday.
This was to be the fourth mission of the Cygnus cargo ship to the ISS. This time therein was valuable payload of 2300 kg weight, 32 miniature satellite research, a device for tracking meteorites and oxygen tank
Cygnus belongs to a private American company Orbital Sciences Corp. Along with the definitive withdrawal from service three years ago, the American space shuttle, NASA has been deprived of its own means of supplying the ISS. Replacing the ISS crew members currently occurs only via Russian Soyuz ships.
Source: CNN, PAP
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