U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee, today issued the following statement about last night’s explosion of Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket as it launched from Spaceport Wallops on a resupply mission to the International Space Station:
“I’m so thankful no one was hurt during last night’s launch failure at Wallops Flight Facility. It reminds us that rocketry is still hard. But we must try the hard things to continue advancing science and innovation, and improving lives along the way.
“I remain supportive of Spaceport Wallops and NASA’s Commercial Cargo mission in achieving America’s independence in transporting supplies to the Space Station. I know NASA, Orbital and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport will work together to evaluate and investigate what went wrong so they can learn from this accident.”
