Cygnus Orb-3

Orbital-3
One of the Antares 130's AJ26 engines ruptures, fifteen seconds into the flight.
NamesCRS Orb-3
Mission typeISS resupply
OperatorOrbital Sciences Corporation
Mission duration
  • 1 month (planned)
  • 23 seconds (actual)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftS.S. Deke Slayton
Spacecraft typeStandard Cygnus[1]
Manufacturer
Launch mass7,594 kg (16,742 lb)[2]
Payload mass2,215 kg (4,883 lb)[3]
Start of mission
Launch date28 October 2014, 22:22:38 (28 October 2014, 22:22:38) UTC (6:22:38 pm EDT)[4][5]
RocketAntares 130[1]
Launch siteMARS, Pad 0A
End of mission
DisposalFlight termination
Destroyed28 October 2014, 22:23:01 (28 October 2014, 22:23:01) UTC

NASA insignia
← Orbital-2
OA-4 →

Orbital-3,[6][7] also known as Orb-3, was an attempted flight of Cygnus, an automated cargo spacecraft developed by United States–based company Orbital Sciences, on 28 October 2014. The mission was intended to launch at 22:22:38 UTC that evening. This flight, which would have been its fourth to the International Space Station and the fifth of an Antares launch vehicle, resulted in the Antares rocket exploding seconds after liftoff.[8]

  1. ^ a b Bergin, Chris (22 February 2012). "Space industry giants Orbital upbeat ahead of Antares debut". NasaSpaceflight. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  2. ^ Todd, David (28 October 2014). "Antares 130 launch fails in explosion destroying Cygnus cargo craft and damaging launch pad (Updated)". Seradata.
  3. ^ "Orbital CRS-3 Mission to the International Space Station: Media Press Kit" (PDF) (Press release). NASA. October 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2018. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Cygnus Orb-3 Launch Failure". Spaceflight 101. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  5. ^ "First Nighttime Launch of the Antares Rocket Scheduled October 27 From Wallops". NASA. Orbital Sciences. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ "Worldwide Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  7. ^ "International Space Station Flight Schedule". SEDS. 15 May 2013.
  8. ^ Plait, Phil (28 October 2014). "Breaking: Antares Rocket Explodes On Takeoff". Slate. Retrieved 28 October 2014.