A bird's eye view of Antares rocket explosion
- 10 years ago
ROUGH CUT (No reporter narration)
Footage shot from a light airplane on Tuesday, provides a bird's eye view of an unmanned U.S. supply rocket exploding shortly after lifting off from a commercial launch pad in Virginia. It was the first such accident since NASA turned to private operators to run cargo to the International Space Station.
The 14-story Antares rocket, built and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp blasted off from the Wallops Flight Facility but burst into flames moments later and plunged back to the ground in a massive ball of fire and smoke.
No one was hurt in the crash, authorities said. The craft was carrying a Cygnus cargo ship bound for the station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations that orbits about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.
Footage shot from a light airplane on Tuesday, provides a bird's eye view of an unmanned U.S. supply rocket exploding shortly after lifting off from a commercial launch pad in Virginia. It was the first such accident since NASA turned to private operators to run cargo to the International Space Station.
The 14-story Antares rocket, built and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp blasted off from the Wallops Flight Facility but burst into flames moments later and plunged back to the ground in a massive ball of fire and smoke.
No one was hurt in the crash, authorities said. The craft was carrying a Cygnus cargo ship bound for the station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations that orbits about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.