Under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA,Orbital Sciences Corporation, based in Virginia, has sent two cargo vehicles to the International Space Station without a hitch.This time, their Cygnus spacecraft, powered by an Antares rocket was carrying more than two tons of water and food and also some classified equipment.But several seconds after the launch the rocket blew up, before the new second stage motor was able to ignite.The explosion completely destroyed the cargo and damaged the launch pad, but no injuries or loss of life were reported.At a press conference at Wallops Island launch facility Executive Vice President and General Manager at Orbital Sciences Corporation, Frank Culbertson, said the Antares program will be put on hold.“We will not fly until we understand the root cause and the corrective action necessary to insure that this doesn’t happen again," said Culbertson.President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Eric Stallmer, says the space flight industry is already looking ahead.“It’s a setback, a short-term setback,but Orbital, they have still four more launches to go to the International Space Station and we anticipate those to be a huge success," said Stallmer.However, Orbital Corporation’s revenue will suffer, according to John Logsdon of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute.“Because not only was this a major source of revenue for the company, this commercial cargo contract,
根据与美国航天局签署的价值19亿美元的协议，总部在维吉尼亚州的轨道科学公司已向国际太空站运送两个货仓车。这次，该公司的天鹅座航天器在安塔瑞斯火箭助推下运去了两吨多的水、食物和一些机密设备。但在发射几秒钟后火箭爆炸了，当时第二节的发动机尚未点燃。爆炸彻底摧毁了货物，并破坏了发射台，但没有出现人员伤亡。在瓦勒普斯岛发射基地举行的新闻发布会上，轨道科学公司执行副总裁兼总经理弗兰克・库尔伯特森称将暂停安塔瑞斯项目。“在弄清楚根本原因并采取必要的纠正措施确保未来不再发生类似事故之前，我们不会再发射了。”商业航天联盟主席Eric Stallmer说航天业已经在展望未来了。“这是一次挫折，短期内的挫折，但轨道科学公司还要向国际航空站进行4次发射，我们预测这些发射都将非常成功。”然而，轨道科学公司的利润将会受损，乔治华盛顿大学太空政策研究所的约翰・洛格斯登如是说。“这不仅对该公司和这个商业货运协议来说是个重大的收入来源，
暂无注释
