14 DAY TRIAL // Astronauts with the Expedition 38 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first-ever commercial resupply mission launched by Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC).
The company is under contract with NASA to conduct 8 such resupply flights over the next few years, and the first is scheduled to take off at 1:07 pm EST (1907 GMT) today, January 9. Takeoff will occur from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, on Wallops Island, Virginia.
OSC officials warn that there is a chance the launch will not occur today. The event has already been postponed several times, due to efforts to repair the station's cooling system last month, and due to severe weather on the ground and in space this January.
The first OSC resupply mission, called Orbital-1, or simply Orb-1, will be carried out by the Cygnus unmanned cargo spacecraft, which will be boosted to low-Earth orbit by the Antares medium-lift delivery system. Both vehicles were designed and built by OSC with NASA funding.