- 194ft (59-metre) Atlas V rocket soared off its Florida launch pad last night
- Perched on top of the rocket is a Cygnus capsule loaded with supplies
- It contains 7,500lbs (3,400 kg) of food, a 3D printer and Gecko Grippers
- Cygnus is due to arrive at the ISS, 250 miles (400km) above Earth, Saturday
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An Atlas V rocket loaded with supplies and science experiments blasted off from Florida last night on its way to the International Space Station.
The 194ft (59-metre) rocket soared off its seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:05pm EDT (3:05am GMT on Wednesday).
Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus capsule loaded with nearly 7,500lbs (3,400 kg) of food, science experiments and equipment including a 3D printer to build tools for astronauts and non-stick grippers modelled after gecko feet.
A 3D printer is making its way to the International Space Station today. This image of the printer was taken in April 2014 during testing and the goal is to see if 3D printing works the same in microgravity as it does on Earth. It is one of many science experiments making its way to the ISS on board the Cygnus capsule
The unmanned Atlas V rocket loaded with supplies and science experiments blasted off from Florida last night on its way to the station. The 194ft (59-m etre) rocket soared off its seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 11:05pm EDT (3:05am GMT on Wednesday)
The printer works by heating plastic, metal or other materials into streams that are layered on top of each other to create three-dimensional objects.
'If we had a choice of what we could use that printer for, I'm sure we could be quite creative,' station commander Tim Kopra said during an inflight interview on Tuesday.
British firm Majestic will be the first UK company to use the 3D printer to print a 'Majestic Landscape' data visualisation on the 3D printer modified to work in microgravity.
The experimental Gecko Gripper is a new kind of adhesive that mimics the way gecko lizards cling to surfaces without falling.
It aims to test a method of attaching things in the weightless environment of space.
Nasa is looking at robotic versions of gecko feet to attach sensors and other instruments onto and inside satellites.
The Gecko Gripper technology may lead to terrestrial versions of grippers that could, for example, hold flat-screen TVs to walls without anchoring systems and adhesives, said lead researcher Aaron Parness with Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
There's also a fire experiment that will remain on the Cygnus.
Researchers will ignite a large-scale blaze, in a contained box, to see how it spreads in weightlessness.
The fire will not be set until the Cygnus departs the space station in May, full of trash for a destructive re-entry.
Named after the swan constellation, the Cygnus is one of two commercial vehicles used to stock the 250-mile-high space station.
Both haulers have lost shipments to rocket failures over the past 1½ years and are still working to catch up.
Perched on top of the rocket (pictured) was a Cygnus capsule loaded with nearly 7,500lbs (3,400 kg) of food and the science ex periments. It is due to arrive at the station, 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, on Saturday
There's also a fire experiment that will remain on the Cygnus. Researchers will ignite a large-scale blaze, in a contained box, to see how it spreads in weightlessness. The fire (illustrated) will not be set until the Cygnus departs the space station in May, full of trash for a destructive re-entry
A Russian shipment also ended up destroyed.
It is due to arrive at the station, which flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, on Saturday.
Elsewhere, the capsule is additionally carrying a telescope that will be used to chemically analyse meteors as they blast through Earth's atmosphere and a prototype exercise station that is a fraction of the size of the equipment currently used by station crew members.
Elsewhere, the capsule (on top of the Atlas V rocket pictured) s additionally carrying a telescope that will be used to chemically analyse meteors as they blast through Earth's atmosphere and a prototype exercise station that is a fraction of the size of the equipment currently used by station crew members
It is expected to remain docked at the orbiting research laboratory, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, for two months.
Cygnus' science mission will continue after it undocks from the space station, serving as a platform for a fire experiment.
The capsule, which is not designed to return to Earth, will then plunge into the atmosphere and burn up itself.
