WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — The latest Northrop Grumman Antares rocket will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia this weekend. This means folks in the Carolinas and all across the mid-Atlantic states may catch a glimpse!
This rocket is a commercial resupply mission for NASA. It will hold supplies, equipment, and materials for science experiments.
It also houses essentials for astronauts... like new laundry. According to Tony Rice, a NASA ambassador located in Raleigh, there's no washer and dryer on the International Space Station.
"They can't actually wash their clothes up there," he explains. "We haven't quite figured that out yet, so we have to send up fresh laundry for them."
Rice also says the most exciting part of this launch is receiving new scientific data.
Experiments performed on the ISS include bioprinting tissues, ovarian cell research to improve fertility treatments, assessing how plants adapt in space and examining mudflow to help prevent landslides post-wildfire.
He explains that the benefit of doing these tests in space is we're removing gravity from the equation. This allows scientists to get down to the physics of what's going on.
The launch is scheduled to begin at 5:50 a.m. Sunday. Don’t forget to set your alarm on a device that auto updates – like a cell phone. Remember, daylight saving time ends the same morning!
It’ll still be dark since the sun won’t rise yet – but as sunlight hits the upper atmosphere, it’ll illuminate the exhaust from the rocket. This may even result in noctilucent clouds.
Look toward the east-northeast and keep an eye out for a little yellow dot in the sky! If you have trouble navigating where that is, just look toward the sunrise.
Candice Jordan, the planetary administrator at the Schiele Museum, pointed out another unique thing about this launch: who it's named after. Northrop Grumman does this to honor a person important to spaceflight.
The late Dr. Sally Ride. She was the first American woman in space.
The ride was also one of the first female CAPCOMs, short for Capsule Communication. These are the astronauts on Earth who communicate with crew members on a spacecraft.
She was a big supporter of STEM engagement and women in STEM.
If the launch doesn't happen Sunday, the next launch window is Monday at 5:27 a.m.