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                ISS-Bound NASA Supply Rocket Explodes on Launch

   by VOA News

   An unmanned commercial rocket that was supposed to send a cargo ship to
   the International Space Station exploded seconds after lift-off from a
   NASA launch pad in Virginia late Tuesday.

   The privately owned rocket barely got off the ground before it blew up
   just after sunset on Wallops Island, off the Atlantic coast.

   There was no one on board the Antares rocket and no one on the ground
   was hurt, but NASA says there was significant vehicle and cargo damage.

   The rocket was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. It was carrying a
   cargo ship stocked with more than two tons of food, experiments, and
   other supplies for the space station.

   Orbital Sciences is one of two private companies NASA hired to fly
   cargo ships into orbit after the space station fleet was retired in
   2011.

   The launch had been postponed from Monday after a small boat sailed
   into the rocket's launch safety range.

   Some information for this report comes from AP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/nasa-rocket-explosion-virginia-intern
   ational-space-station/2499978.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nasa-rocket-explosion-virginia-international-space-station/2499978.html