Orbital Sciences Explosion: What Was Lost to the Fire

An unmanned rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS) exploded immediately after falling from the air above NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Tuesday evening. Now reports are coming out on what exactly was lost in that "catastrophic failure."

Recovery and cleanup efforts were still underway on the south side of Wallops Island on Wednesday morning, but it has been speculated that very little of the cargo could have survived the tremendous explosion that lit up last evening's sky.

The rocket to blame, an Antares rocket from Orbital Sciences, was carrying a small unmanned Cygnus cargo craft laden with 5,000 pounds of supplies for the ISS.

NASA has assured the world that despite the failed delivery, the Expedition 41 crew orbiting the Earth "is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies."

They are, however, going to find themselves with a bit more free time on their hands than intended. That's because the failed launch was supposed deliver a series of science experiments, equipment for ongoing work, and even a space mining test vehicle. (Scroll to read on...)

One experiment, called "Brain Drain," would have helped health professionals better understand the effects of micro-gravity conditions on the brain, in which a special neck collar called a strain-gauge plethysmograph is used to measure brain blood flow. The intent for this experiment was to test the technology in the near-zero gravity of the ISS, simultaneously determining if blood flow had anything to do with the constant headaches that crewmembers sometimes complain of.

The craft was also due to deliver a Planetary Resources ARKYD 3 test vehicle that was to orbit Earth and asses nearby asteroid composition.

While Planetary Resources, still reeling from such an incredible loss, has yet to release an official statement on the disaster, they did tweet about it.

Deep Space Industries, another company with aspirations to mine nearby asteroids, expressed their sympathies in a statement.

"We are not competitors as much as we are compatriots, working towards the same goal: the opening of space for humanity," said Chair Rick Tumlinson. "Space is hard, and accidents like this remind us that any number of things can go wrong on our way to achieving our dreams. We are sure they will continue to move ahead, and look forward to continuing our friendly race to harvest the resources of space."

Elon Musk similarly offered his sympathies to Orbital Sciences, a competitor for SpaceX. You can read more about the disaster and watch the explosion here.