Antares Rocket Awaits Launch

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen at sunrise on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Aug. 7, 2021, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver nearly 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew.

Northrop Grumman named the NG CRS-16 Cygnus spacecraft after NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka, in honor of his prominence as the first Asian American astronaut. Onizuka was hired in 1978 in the first class of diverse astronauts, and his first spaceflight was aboard space shuttle Discovery in January 1985 for STS-51-C. He lost his life aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Launch is scheduled for 5:56 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021.

Photo Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach WFF-2021-054-005 Larger image