Monday’s launch to space station scrubbed due to sailboat, 2nd try Tuesday

TORONTO – A rogue sailboat caused the scrub of a resupply mission with 2300 kg of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station on Monday.

As is typical during a launch, there is a safety perimeter where people are prohibited.

But around 6:30 p.m. on Monday, the launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia was put on hold as officials noticed a sailboat that had appeared in the mariner avoidance area. Shortly after it was announced that NASA would attempt a launch the next day.

The launch which is visible across a large part of the United States spawned increased interest, so when it was announced that it was scrubbed, many people took to Twitter to complain.

It even spawned a false Twitter account — named after the Antares rocket aboard which Cygnus will launch — that poked fun at the delay.

Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Cygnus resupply mission will get a second chance on Tuesday with a scheduled launch of 6:22 p.m. EDT.

You can watch the launch live on NASA TV beginning at 5:30 p.m.

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