Orbital Launch Fails Following Explosion – Science Experiments And ARKYD Lost

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
UPDATE: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 (9:00 a.m.)
Reports have surfaced that 1,600 pounds of science and research, including experiments designed by students in the US and Canada and the Planetary Resources ARKYD 3 spacecraft, were among the cargo lost during Tuesday evening’s Antares rocket failure and subsequent explosion.
According to Lindsey Bever of The Washington Post, among the 18 student-designed experiments lost were one examining how crystals would change in a zero-gravity environment, and others probing whether or not plants would grow in space and how quickly milk would spoil outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.
“The payload was supposed to be returning early in December and we were going to analyze the data and see if we could draw any conclusions,” Greg Adragna, a science teacher at Houston’s Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory – one of the schools which had a project on board, told the Houston Chronicle. “This was about a year-and-a-half of work. This is not the way we wanted to have the evening end.”
Likewise, the ARKYD 3, a small test vehicle for future asteroid missions that was to be carried into low Earth orbit on board the Orbital Sciences vehicle, was lost in Tuesday’s explosion. It was to have been the first of a series of orbital test flights scheduled for Planetary Resources, according to their colleagues at Deep Space Industries (DSI),
“We stand with our brothers and sisters at Planetary Resources on the loss of their first ARKYD spacecraft in today’s accident at Wallops Island,” Deep Space CEO Daniel Faber said in a statement. “We know how hard they have been working, and the high expectations we all had for their first mission. Even as we design and prepare our own spacecraft, we recognize that a loss for one of us is a loss for all.”
“We are not competitors as much as we are compatriots, working towards the same goal: the opening of space for humanity. Both companies are attempting to prove that are goals are not just possible, but will become profitable.” added DSI Chair Rick Tumlinson. “Space is hard, and accidents like this remind us that any number of things can go wrong on our way to achieving our dreams. We are sure they will continue to move ahead, and look forward to continuing our friendly race to harvest the resources of space.”
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ORIGINAL: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 (5:30 a.m.)
An unmanned commercial rocket built by Orbital Sciences, on a mission to carry supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), exploded seconds after lifting off Tuesday evening at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility launch site in Virginia.
No injuries were reported as a result of the incident, but according to USA Today reporters Doyle Rice and William M. Welch, both the Antares rocket and its Cygnus cargo spacecraft were destroyed. NASA and Orbital Sciences are still in the process of gathering data to determine what caused the vehicle to fail.
“It is far too early to know the details of what happened,” Frank Culbertson, Orbital’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Advanced Programs Group, said in a statement following the incident. “As we begin to gather information, our primary concern lies with the ongoing safety and security of those involved in our response and recovery operations.”
“We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident,” he added. “As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation’s space program.”
Orbital Sciences explained that the Antares rocket had suffered a catastrophic failure shortly after lifting off from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at 6:22 p.m. (EDT). NASA’s emergency operations officials confirmed that there were no injuries or casualties, and said that property damage was limited to the southern end of Wallops Island. The company also said it had formed an investigation team that would be working alongside government agencies in order to determine the cause of the explosion.
“While NASA is disappointed that Orbital Sciences’ third contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station was not successful today, we will continue to move forward toward the next attempt once we fully understand today’s mishap,” William Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, said in a separate statement from the US space agency.
“Orbital has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in its first two missions to the station earlier this year, and we know they can replicate that success,” he added. “Launching rockets is an incredibly difficult undertaking, and we learn from each success and each setback. Today’s launch attempt will not deter us from our work to expand our already successful capability to launch cargo from American shores to the International Space Station.”

During a briefing on Tuesday night, NASA and Orbital officials said that none of the cargo lost was “absolutely critical” to the space station, and that the ISS crew was in no danger. There were science projects on board, as well as hardware that Orbital called important and of high value both to the company and to its customers.
Space.com reports that the mission was carrying 5,000 pounds of cargo, and was the third of eight resupply missions under Orbital’s $1.9 billion contract with NASA. Shares of the Dulles, Virginia-based aerospace firm dropped as much as 17 percent to $24.51 following the incident, according to Bloomberg’s Julie Johnsson and Chris Cooper.
NASA confirmed via Twitter earlier this morning that a Russian Progress vehicle carrying approximately 5,700 pounds worth of supplies successfully departed from Kazakhstan at 3:09am ET. The ship, which will be taking 1,940 pounds of propellant, 48 pounds of oxygen, 57 pounds of air, 926 pounds of water and 2,822 pounds of other supplies, is expected to dock with the orbiting laboratory at 9:09am ET.
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