Reporters run for cover as Antares rocket explodes

A commercial Cygnus cargo freighter packed with 3.8 tons of medical and pharmaceutical experiments, technology demonstration hardware, CubeSats and crew provisions rode an Antares rocket into orbit from Virginia’s Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon on the first leg of a day-and-a-half journey to the International Space Station.

First, you see the rocket sputter, then pause suspended in mid-air and crash back to Earth in a blinding ball of flame. If you still have your wits, you brace for the blast wave.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station used the robotic arm to snare a commercial cargo ship and bring it aboard this morning while traveling at five miles per second.