A ULA Atlas V 401 rocket with a 4 meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters, and a single engine on its Centaur upper stage launches with the OA-7 mission to resupply the ISS via an Orbital ATK, now Northrup Grumman, Cygnus spacecraft.
The Antares rocket which Orbital Sciences launched with 2 refurbished NK-33 engines produced in the Soviet Union in the 60's and 70's failed dramatically when one engine exploded seconds after liftoff and the rocket crashed back onto its pad at the Wallops Island launch facility.
This required Orbital, soon merged with ATK, to find another rocket to launch their Cygnus spacecraft while they found new engines and modified their rocket to accommodate them.
They chose the ULA Atlas V rocket. The first mission to launch, OA-7, this one, suffered an in-flight anomaly when the first stage shut down early. The Centaur was able to make up the difference however, and Cygnus, named S.S. John Glenn, was injected into the correct orbit and resupplied the space station.
This image was taken from Playalinda Beach in Cape Canaveral National Seashore. The
Space Coast Photography Studios
- They/Them
- heronfox.pixels.com/
Two Central Florida photographers with an interest in nature, landscape, bird, flower, space, technology, and architecture photography.
