This is so scary!
On Tuesday evening, an unmanned rocket contracted by NASA exploded over the eastern Virginia coast in a huge fireball.
The Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft that was set to carry roughly 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station exploded 6 seconds after launch.
According to NASA spokesperson Jay Bolden, no deaths have been reported, but severe property and vehicle damage has been incurred:
“There was failure on launch. There was no indicated loss of life…There was significant property and vehicle damage. Mission control is trying to assess what went wrong.”
Also onboard the spacecraft was around 1,300 pounds of food for the International Space Station.
Tuesday’s Antares rocket explosion conjured images reminiscent of the deadly 1986 Challenger mission, where the space shuttle exploded after launch, killing seven. NASA retired the space shuttle program in 2011.
This story is developing. More details to come.