WALLOPS ISLAND -- Teams from NASA Wednesday began investigating what caused an unmanned rocket to explode just six seconds after launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island Tuesday night.
On a conference call with investors and analysts on Wednesday afternoon, David Thompson, the president of the company that built and launched the rocket, said he expected it to take "days, not weeks" for investigators to identify a hand-full of likely causes behind the launch failure.
Thompson cautioned, though, against 'fixating early' on what appears to be the likely cause.
13News Now crews there saw what appeared to be some military choppers circling and heard NASA test its emergency alert system.
The visitor's center was closed to the public Wednesday because it was serving as a media center.
Flames could be seen shooting into the sky as the sun set in what was the first nighttime launch of an Antares Rocket from Wallops.
"There has been a vehicle anomaly," Orbital Sciences, the contractor supplying the rocket, said on its Twitter feed.
Watch: Rocket explodes after launch
The rocket had been slated to launch Monday night, but the mission was scrubbed because a sailboat was in the hazard area southwest of the launch pad.
The hazard area is about 1,400 square miles off the coast of Wallops Island along the Eastern Shore.
The Antares rocket launched at 6:22 p.m. It was intended to propel the Cygnus vehicle, packed with 5,050 pounds of cargo, to get to the International Space Station on November 2. Two Americans, three Russians and one German are on the orbiting space station.
"The crew of the International Space Station is in no danger of running out of food or other critical supplies," stressed William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Directorate.
All personnel have been accounted for and no one was hurt. There is extensive damage to the flight pad area and facilities, officials acknowledged.
In a news conference Tuesday night, NASA officials warned that debris could wash up on Eastern Shore beaches. If you see debris, don't pick it up. Call the incident response team at 757-824-1295. The pieces will be important to the investigation.
Orbital Sciences' executive vice president Culbertson noted that the cargo module was carrying hazardous materials.
"Certainly don't go souvenir hunting along the beach," he said.
Some students and teachers from a science class at Ghent Montesorri School in Norfolk were watching from the visitor's center, about four miles across the marsh, and saw the explosion. They're learning about rocketry, the space race and the cold war.
"You could feel the sound wave coming to you and it really sounded kind of like a cannon going off," said Helen McCrary, a seventh grader. "I was scared afterwards when I started seeing the smoke and we were told to evacuate because the wind was traveling towards us and it was bringing it to us."
"it just lit up the whole horizon, and I think that's where everybody realized it was a very serious kind of event," said teacher Brandon McCrary.
Orbital Sciences said in the hours after the launch mishap that it's first priority was repairing the Wallops Island launch facility. On a conference call with investors Wednesday afternoon, though, the company's CEO was less concerned.
"It appears that the launch complex itself was spared from any major damage," Orbital CEO David Thompson said.
The accident could draw scrutiny to the space agency's growing reliance on private U.S. companies in the post-shuttle era. NASA is paying billions of dollars to Orbital Sciences and the California-based SpaceX company to make station deliveries and it's counting on SpaceX and Boeing to start flying astronauts to the orbiting lab as early as 2017.
It was the fourth Cygnus bound for the orbiting lab; the first flew just over a year ago. SpaceX is scheduled to launch another Dragon supply ship from Cape Canaveral in Florida in December.
"Launching rockets is an incredibly difficult undertaking, and we learn from each success and each setback. Today's launch attempt will not deter us from our work to expand our already successful capability to launch cargo from American shores to the International Space Station," Gerstenmaier stated.
The science cargo included a study to enable the first space-based observations of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere, a student experiment on the rates of milk spoilage in space, another experiment from students at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston to test the the effects of microgravity on plant growth, specifically pea shoot growth, and international research including a study to determine how blood flows from the brain to the heart in the absence of gravity, the company noted.
Also lost in the explosion were prepackaged meals and freeze-dried Maryland crabcakes for a Baltimore-born astronaut who's been in orbit for five months.
Orbital Sciences is contracted to conduct eight supply missions delivering 20 tons of material to the space station.
"It is far too early to know the details of what happened," said Culbertson. "We will conduct a thorough investigation immediately to determine the cause of this failure and what steps can be taken to avoid a repeat of this incident. As soon as we understand the cause we will begin the necessary work to return to flight to support our customers and the nation's space program."
Culbertson said the company carried insurance on the mission, which he valued at more than $200 million, not counting repair costs.
"Going forward, Virginia transportation, safety and environmental quality officials are ready to assist NASA and Orbital in assessing the impact of this accident and mitigating any environmental or public safety concerns," stated Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Responders included Wallops Island, Accomack County and towns of Chincoteague and Assateague fire departments, the Accomack Sheriff's Department as well as Virginia State Police and the departments of Transportation and Emergency Management. The Department of Environmental Quality will assess whether there are any pollution concerns.
Rep. Scott Rigell (R-2nd D), who represents the Eastern Shore, said, "A critical element in advancing NASA's mission is found in the response to a mission failure, and I have the highest confidence in the accident investigation team that will seek out the information needed to learn from tonight's launch. I am relieved and grateful that all personnel are safe, and I stand ready to provide any assistance requested by NASA and its key contractors."
