A two-stage Northrop Grumman Antares booster lifted off Nov. 2 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a Cygnus cargo freighter on the way to the International Space Station.
These photos show the 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) rocket climbing into the sky from pad 0A at the spaceport at Wallops Island, Virginia. The Antares rocket rode the power of two RD-181 engines off the pad at 9:59 a.m. EDT (1359 GMT) on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The RD-181 engines generated some 860,000 pounds of thrust to propel the Antares launcher toward space. A solid-fueled Castor 30XL second stage later ignited to inject the Cygnus supply ship into orbit.
The Cygnus cargo carrier reached the space station Monday, Nov. 4, with more than 4 tons of equipment, experiments, crew provisions and other gear.
Read our full story for details on the launch.
Email the author.
Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
