Photos: Sun rises on Antares rocket at Wallops Island

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket stands on pad 0A at Wallops Island, Virginia, on a frigid morning hours before a planned liftoff with more than 8,000 pounds of cargo heading for the International Space Station.

In these photos, the sun rises behind the 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) Antares launcher at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which runs the commercial launch facility at Wallops.

The Antares rocket is scheduled to lift off powered by two kerosene-fueled RD-181 engines at 12:36 p.m. EST (1736 GMT), kicking off a day-and-a-half pursuit of the space station. The mission’s Cygnus supply ship, named the S.S. Katherine Hamilton in honor of the trailblazing NASA mathematician portrayed in “Hidden Figures,” will deliver the load of cargo and experiments to the orbiting research lab.

This will be the 14th flight of an Antares rocket since 2013, and the 15th cargo mission to the space station by a Cygnus spacecraft.

Read our mission preview story for more details.

Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now
Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now

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