NASA: No danger to space station after supply rocket blows up

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Last Updated Oct 29, 2014 3:34 AM EDT

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket making only its fifth flight exploded seconds after launch from the Virginia coast Tuesday, erupting in a spectacular fireball and destroying an uncrewed Cygnus cargo ship in a disheartening failure for NASA's commercial space station resupply program.

The mishap occurred about 15 seconds after liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility as the 139-foot-tall two-stage rocket climbed away on the power of its two Russian-built first-stage engines.

"We have ignition... and we have liftoff of the Antares Orb 3 mission to bring Cygnus on its third (resupply) mission to the ISS," said NASA's launch commentator as the Antares lifted off. "Main engines at 108 percent, attitude nominal."

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CBS space consultant William Harwood reacts as he watches the explosion just after liftoff in Virginia of an unmanned cargo rocket carrying supp...

At roughly that moment, the exhaust plume suddenly intensified, followed an instant later by a detonation of some sort at the base of the rocket. The booster, engulfed in flames, then slowly fell back to Earth, exploding in a titanic conflagration as its remaining liquid oxygen and refined kerosene propellants ignited in a huge fireball.

At impact, flaming debris shot away into the night sky like a fireworks display, some of it presumably from solid propellant used in the rocket's second stage. Scattered fires erupted around the launch pad and a towering cloud of smoke climbed into the night sky.

While property damage appeared extensive, Orbital officials said there were no injuries.

It was not clear watching video replays of the launching what might have gone wrong, whether it involved one or both Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ26 first stage engines or some other system.

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NASA: No danger to space station after supply rocket blows up

NASA rocket explodes on launch

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- An unmanned NASA-contracted rocket exploded in midair early Tuesday evening, producing huge flames and loud booms along the eastern Virginia coast but no injuries or deaths.

Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft had been set to launch at 6:22 p.m. ET from the Wallops Flight Facility along the Atlantic Ocean, carrying roughly 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.

It exploded about six seconds after launch.

What was left of the spacecraft and rocket plummeted back to Earth, causing even more flames upon impact.

The rocket and spacecraft -- which together cost more than $200 million, according to Frank Culbertson, the general manager of Orbital's Advanced Programs Group -- are gone. And there's obvious damage beyond that, including to the launchpad, though the night skies made it hard to immediately gauge how much.

One thing officials do know is that rocket science is, in the words of NASA Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier, "a really tough business."

"Tonight's events really show the difficulty that it takes for us to do this task of delivering cargo to the space station," he said.

Witnesses: From 'breathtaking' to horrific

The Orbital rocket had been set to go up Monday, only to be scrubbed "because of a boat down range in the trajectory Antares would have flown had it lifted off," according to NASA. Coast Guard spokesman David Weydert said the boat that triggered the postponement was 40 miles offshore.

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NASA rocket explodes on launch

To Infinity! NASA Kicks Up Space Station Tech

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. NASA has pioneered new technologies on the International Space Station for years, but the space agency's latest technological twists are venturing into science-fiction territory.

For example, the next generation of camera-equipped, free-flying robots could usher in an age when remote-controlled gizmos check out the space station's far corners, unassisted by humans on board. But couldn't that open the way for a robot to go rogue, as HAL did in "2001: A Space Odyssey"?

"It's our job to make sure that doesn't happen," Jose Benavides, chief engineer for the SPHERES robotic flier program at NASA's Ames Research Center, told NBC News.

Benavides and other researchers provided an update on space station innovations on Monday during a televised forum at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. SPHERES which is short for "Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites" ranks as one of the station's longest-running tech experiments.

Astronauts have been testing the gas-propelled, beachball-sized satellites since 2006, but just recently the SPHERES devices have been rigged up with Android smartphones to enhance their vision and intelligence. The station's three spaceballs can now use a Kinect-style 3-D scanning system to map their environment.

Sometime next month, the flying robots are due to venture out of their home base in the Japanese Experiment Module for the first time, Benavides said. Eventually, they'll be given the run of the entire space station.

Suppose Mission Control wants to check out an anomalous reading on one of the space station's displays. "Without having to bother an astronaut, the ground operator can navigate the SPHERES over to take a look," Benavides said.

The robot can also be sent to look for, say, a missing wrench while the astronaut who lost it is otherwise engaged. "A lot of the astronauts' time has been spent looking for things," Benavides explained.

This SPHERES robot has been equipped with a smartphone to enhance its navigational capability. This free-flying robot is propelled in zero-G with compressed carbon dioxide gas, but future free-fliers are more likely to use ducted fans or compressed air.

Meanwhile, Benavides and his teammates spend a lot of their time working through even the most unlikely scenarios for example, a stray gamma-ray blast that somehow scrambles the SPHERES software to make sure a flying robot won't turn into a mini-HAL. "Even if all the wrong things happen, it can't hurt anybody or do any damage," he said.

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To Infinity! NASA Kicks Up Space Station Tech

NASA releases more information on Antares explosion

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At a press conference arranged only a few hours after the event, NASA released details of the explosion of the Antares rocket carrying the unmanned Cygnus supply ship to the International Space Station (ISS). The space agency said that the launch pad at Wallops Island, Virginia, where the 240,000-kg (530,000-lb) rocket went up in flames seconds after lift off has been cordoned off by firefighters until daylight because of the on-going hazards from fires, and scattered solid and hypergolic fuel from the Antares.

NASA says that Orbital Sciences Corporation (the builders and operators of the Cygnus and Antares), the US FAA, and NASA are investigating what happened to the Antares rocket when it was destroyed at 6:22 pm EDT. It suffered a catastrophic anomaly 10 to 12 seconds after launch, after which the range safety officer activated the rockets autodestruct. No injuries were reported and all personnel have been accounted for, with damage confined to the south end of Wallops Island, though there was some debris was scattered over the water.

At the press conference, NASA and Orbital Science representatives said that the explosion resulted in the loss of the US$200 million spacecraft, plus damage to the ground facilities. Pad damage was sustained, but instrument readings indicate that some systems are still holding pressure, so are not seriously damaged. However, the exact extent of the accident is still unknown. In addition, the spacecraft processing facilities seem undamaged.

The Cygnus freighter was lost in the explosion (Image" NASA)

The destruction of the Cygnus freighter means the loss of 5,000 lb (2,200 lb) of cargo originally destined for the ISS. Because of this, the manifest for later missions will have to be swapped around to make up for the destruction of the cargo ship. However, NASA says that the station is in no danger because there was no critical cargo aboard and that the ISS can remain functioning without resupply for four to six months. In addition, a Progress supply ship launches on Wednesday and a SpaceX Dragon is scheduled to launch on December 9.

The explosion also destroyed a piggyback cargo from the asteroid mining start up, Planetary Resources. The company was sending up its Arkyd 3 demonstrator, but in a statement Planetary Resources said that it had already met its objectives by delivering the miniature space telescope to the launch pad and that another launch of its Arkyd 6 is scheduled to launch next year.

According to NASA, the investigation into the accident will include moving into the area when its been deemed safe, during which debris will be tagged, collected, and sent off for analysis. In addition, the investigators are working on securing and reviewing telemetry and video from the launch vehicle and cargo craft. The investigation is expected to take weeks. In the meantime, the public are warned to remain away from the area and if they find any debris from the accident, they are not to touch it and to call 757-824-1295.

In a statement, William Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator of NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, said:

"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. The crew of the International Space Station is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies.

"Orbital has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in its first two missions to the station earlier this year, and we know they can replicate that success. 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."

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NASA releases more information on Antares explosion

Nasa rocket explodes seconds after lift-off

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"At this point it appears that the damage is limited to the facility," the Nasa commentator said.

Orbital Sciences' executive vice president Frank Culbertson advised people not to touch any potentially hazardous rocket or spacecraft debris that came down on their property or might wash ashore.

Immediately after the explosion, the launch team was ordered to maintain all computer data for the ensuing investigation. Culbertson advised his staff not to talk to news reporters and to refrain from speculating among themselves.

"Definitely do not talk outside of our family," said Culbertson, a former astronaut who once served on the space station.

Nasa mission control said the accident occurred just after Orbital's unmanned Cygnus cargo ship blasted off toward ISS carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies for the six astronauts living at the research outpost.

Virginia-based Orbital Sciences is one of two companies hired by Nasa to fly cargo to the station after the space shuttles were retired. Tuesday's planned flight was to be the third of eight under the company's $1.9 billion contract with Nasa.

The second US supply line to the station is run by privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which is preparing for its fourth flight under a separate, $1.6 billion Nasa contract.

Outfitted with a new, more powerful upper-stage engine, the Antares rocket launched on Tuesday carried a Cygnus spacecraft packed with 5,055 pounds of supplies, science experiments and equipment, a 15 percent increase over previous missions.

Cygnus was to loiter in orbit until Nov. 2, then fly itself to the station so astronauts can use a robotic crane to snare the capsule and attach it to a berthing port. The station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations, flies about 260 miles above Earth.

In addition to food, supplies and equipment, the Cygnus spacecraft was loaded with more than 1,600 pounds of science experiments, including an investigation to chemically analyse meteors as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

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Nasa rocket explodes seconds after lift-off

Update: Rocket explosion destroys NASA cargo bound for space station

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[Update: This article has been updated to include information from a NASA briefing Tuesday night.]

Orbital Science Corporation, supported by NASA, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, and the Federal Aviation Administration, has opened an investigation of the loss of the company's Antares rocket, which malfunctioned just seconds after lift-off Tuesday evening from its launch site on Virginia's Wallops Island.

The rocket's two first-stage motors had reached 108 percent of their typical thrust, as planned, when video showed additional flames erupted from the bottom of the first stage. The rocket slowed, then fell, exploding as it hit the ground.

The craft was carrying 5,000 pounds of science experiments, hardware, and crew supplies destined for the International Space Station. Had the launch gone as planned, the company's Cygnus cargo capsule would have docked with the station on Sunday.

No injuries or fatalities resulted from the explosion. Officials said the launch pad suffered damage, but at this point, it's unclear how extensive. A close inspection of the pad and of the debris field will begin at sun-up, according to Frank Culbertson, executive vice-president and general manager of the advanced projects group at Orbital Sciences.

Orbital Sciences is one of two companies NASA has hired to carry cargo to the space station. This was to have been the company's third cargo mission under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. Its previous two cargo missions were successful.

The loss leaves Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), based in Hawthorne, Calif., as the only company capable of supplying the station from the United States. It has a $1.6-billion cargo contract with the space agency and is one of two companies NASA is supporting to develop the capability to carry US astronauts to and from the station. So far, the company has conducted four successful resupply missions, in addition to two prior demonstration missions.

The loss would appear to validate NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's argument for selecting two private companies rather than one or a single NASA-owned launch vehicle for space transportation to low-Earth orbit, as some in Congress had argued. He told lawmakers that he didn't want US crew transportation to come to a halt if an accident occurred an event that would ground flights using the same hardware during the inevitable accident investigation and the implementation of the investigation's recommendations.

But the loss of rocket and cargo after what officials described as a flawless countdown with no signs of problems with the rocket's systems also could rekindle smoldering debates over the use of commercial carriers for lofting astronauts, even though Orbital Sciences was not in the running for that business.

At the least, the incident highlights the oft-heard mantra that getting into space is anything but routine.

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Update: Rocket explosion destroys NASA cargo bound for space station

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth Gameplay | Walkthrough – Nanotechnology – Video

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Sid Meier #39;s Civilization: Beyond Earth Gameplay | Walkthrough - Nanotechnology
Full Playthrough Palylist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9jivcAIMOzB8Bh_3m5pseIzfZW6WbLup Sid Meier #39;s Civilization: Beyond Earth is a turn-based, 4X video game in the Civilization...

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Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Gameplay | Walkthrough - Nanotechnology - Video

Prof. Sherif El-Safty – Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 1 – Video

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 1
Prof. Sherif El-Safty in TBS Channel, Japanese TV, " Dream Maker" program for saving Japan from Radiation scription.

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 1 - Video

Prof. Sherif El-Safty – Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 2 – Video

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 2
Prof. Sherif El-Safty in TBS Channel, Japanese TV, " Dream Maker" program for saving Japan from Radiation.

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 2 - Video

Prof. Sherif El-Safty – Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 4 – Video

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 4
Prof. Sherif El-Safty in TBS Channel, Japanese TV, " Dream Maker" program for saving Japan from Radiation.

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 4 - Video

Prof. Sherif El-Safty – Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 3 – Video

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 3
Prof. Sherif El-Safty in TBS Channel, Japanese TV, " Dream Maker" program for saving Japan from Radiation.

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Prof. Sherif El-Safty - Dream Maker of Nanotechnology for saving FUkUSHIMA from radiation Part 3 - Video

"Reverse Engineering" Materials for More Efficient Heating and Cooling

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Newswise WASHINGTON, D.C., October 28, 2014 If youve ever gone for a spin in a luxury car and felt your back being warmed or cooled by a seat-based climate control system, then youve likely experienced the benefits of a class of materials called thermoelectrics. Thermoelectric materials convert heat into electricity, and vice versa, and they have many advantages over more traditional heating and cooling systems.

Recently, researchers have observed that the performance of some thermoelectric materials can be improved by combining different solid phases -- more than one material intermixed like the clumps of fat and meat in a slice of salami. The observations offer the tantalizing prospect of significantly boosting thermoelectrics energy efficiency, but scientists still lack the tools to fully understand how the bulk properties arise out of combinations of solid phases.

Now a research team based at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has developed a new way to analyze the electrical properties of thermoelectrics that have two or more solid phases. The new technique could help researchers better understand multi-phase thermoelectric properties and offer pointers on how to design new materials to get the best properties.

The team describes their new technique in a paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing.

An Old Theory Does a 180

Because its sometimes difficult to separately manufacture the pure components that make up multi-phase materials, researchers cant always measure the pure phase properties directly. The Caltech team overcame this challenge by developing a way to calculate the electrical properties of individual phases while only experimenting directly with the composite.

Its like youve made chocolate chip cookies, and you want to know what the chocolate chips and the batter taste like by themselves, but you cant, because every bite you take has both chocolate chips and batter, said Jeff Snyder, a researcher at Caltech who specializes in thermoelectric materials and devices.

To separate the "chips" and "batter" without un-baking the cookie, Snyder and his colleagues turned to a decades old theory, called effective medium theory, and they gave it a new twist.

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"Reverse Engineering" Materials for More Efficient Heating and Cooling

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As Gov. Susana Martinez cruises toward what many predict will be her certain reelection, three separate lawsuits alleging that her office violated public records law remain unresolved.

Among them is a case SFR filed in September 2013, accusing her administration of withholding public documents and engaging in a campaign of retaliation against the newspapers critical coverage. A court-ordered mediation is set for Nov. 20 and a number of motions are pending before District Court Judge Jennifer Attrep.

Though the litigation will likely stretch far beyond Election Day, the cases are shedding light on the loose methods the governors office employs to handle public records.

One case in point is that of former New Mexico Finance Authority head Rick May, who sued the governor for failure to produce public records related to his firing after his comptroller faked an audit. Paul Kennedy, a former state Supreme Court justice now representing Martinez as a contract lawyer, argued that the governors records custodian, Pamela Cason, keeps minimal records when she gathers documents for a public document request.

Mays attorney wanted the custodian to hand over her file of a particular records request to reveal the sequence of events when the governors office conducts research for such requests.

He thinks theres a folder someplace that shows all this information. Theres not, Kennedy said in court.

But Casons own statements in SFRs case tell otherwise. When attorney Daniel Yohalem deposed her in August on behalf of the newspaper, Cason frequently talked about how she keeps a physical file for each records request.

When we receive a request, we e-mail it out to the staff, and everybody in the office is included on that e-mail, she explained. They are then asked to respond. We have a three-day and a 15-day [response deadline], which I calendar because we dont want to miss those deadlines. And as we get the documents in or responses that there are not any documents, then I keep them in a file.

Cason also revealed that she deletes some of her own government emails because she views them as transitory and not public.

I know personally, as many e-mails as I get on a daily basis, if I didnt erase some emails, I would have thousands and thousands that would make no sense to keep, Cason said.

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Everything you want to know about digital photography – but were too afraid to ask

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Published: 00:24 EST, 29 October 2014 | Updated: 05:45 EST, 29 October 2014

Theres no doubt that digital photography has revolutionised how we take pictures. Except for a few professionals and diehards, very few of us still use film.

Remember being limited to 36 exposures? It seems like a lifetime ago.

However, despite the fantastic convenience offered by digital cameras, most of us dont get the best out of them. We point and shoot, and then leave the images on the cameras memory, with a vague idea that one day we might print them out and stick them in an album.

Of course, most of us never do. And as we take an increasing number of pictures, so the backlog of photos we intend to print out grows to such an extent that we know its never going to happen.

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Snap: Despite the fantastic convenience offered by digital cameras, most of us dont get the best out of them

There are, however, plenty of other ways you can share and enjoy your photos besides printing them out.

Here, well show you how to organise your photos, display them on a TV, use online photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Instagram, and how to turn some of your best snaps into Christmas cards and calendars.

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Everything you want to know about digital photography - but were too afraid to ask

How To Optimize Your eBay Listing

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The first sale computer programmer Pierre Omidyar made on his site AuctionWeb was for $14.83 in 1995. Why is that significant? Because Omidyar had sold a broken laser pointer to someone who actually collected broken laser pointers. Knowing that he was on to something, Omidyar let AuctionWeb consume his domain, ebay.com, and the eCommerce world hasnt been the same since.

In the second quarter of 2014, for example, eBay has accumulated 148.9 million users, which has already surpassed the 140 million users at the end of 2013.

For the last two decades, eBay has become not only a location for sellers and buyers to find or unload whatever they want, it has become a cultural phenomenon.

The only problem, how can you stand apart from the other millions of sellers and optimize your ebay account?

Optimize your eBay listings and store with the following tips.

Have an Awesome Store Front

Would you enter a restaurant that had a filthy exterior? Would you stick around a store that promised sporting equipment, but only sold kitchenware? Just like walking into any brick and mortar store, the appearance of your eBay is a major factor for customers.

To get the most of your eBay shop, Business 2 Community created an infographic that suggests your store should include:

You can also customize your stores appearance so itincludes header for links or a logo and an option for email newsletter subscriptions. Theres also a left navigation bar that can include links to your first 30 Store categories.

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How To Optimize Your eBay Listing