Antares Launch at T-Minus 20 Minutes

Antares rocket
Antares rocket prepared for launch. Credit: NASA

With about 20 minutes until Antares’ scheduled 6:45:04 p.m. EDT liftoff, the countdown is progressing smoothly. There are no technical concerns with the rocket or spacecraft being worked. The weather for this evening’s launch is currently 100-percent favorable.

Orbital Science Corp.’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Spaceport’s Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Live launch coverage is currently airing on NASA TV.

The launch of Orbital’s CRS-3 Commercial Resupply Services mission is the third commercial resupply flight by a Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station, and the first night launch of an Antares rocket. Cygnus will transport some 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the orbiting laboratory. If CRS-3 launches as planned, it will arrive at the station Sunday, Nov. 2.

› How to view the CRS-3 launch
› Share your launch photos with NASA on Flickr
› More launch information and TV coverage details
› NASA’s Orbital website
› Related images on Flickr

2 thoughts on “Antares Launch at T-Minus 20 Minutes”

  1. We live on Cape Cod. We went down to beach to view launch. At around 6:53 a bright object came into our view in the South Sky moving in a South to South East direction. When we got home we went online and saw that the mission was scrubbed. Any idea what we could have seen at roughly 6:53 to 7:02 or so. Very bright. It was not a satellite. Definitely not a plane as there were no blinking lights. It was very high in the sky as well.

    1. It is possible you saw the International Space Station, which passed over the area shortly before 7 p.m. EDT (Oct. 27). The station would likely have been brighter than most stars.

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