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.
The Atlas 5 rocket emerges Monday from the Vertical Integration Facility for rollout to Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in preparation to launch the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply ship to the International Space Station.
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday with more than 8,000 pounds of cargo, including new astronaut sleeping quarters, parts for the station’s toilet, and numerous biomedical and technology experiments.