The ocean-sailing ship that transports rocket stages from United Launch Alliance’s factory to U.S. launch sites completed its latest voyage overnight, pulling into port to deliver the Atlas 5 that will send a cargo freighter to the International Space Station in March.
This photo gallery shows the commercial Cygnus cargo resupplier for the International Space Station on Monday at Kennedy Space Center being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing for the planned Dec. 3 liftoff.
The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly.