Photos: Unmanned Nasa supply rockets explodes en route to space station

[caption id=“attachment_1777405” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An unmanned Antares rocket is seen exploding seconds after lift off from a commercial launch pad in this combination of still images from NASA video at Wallops Island, Virginia October 28, 2014. REUTERS/NASA TV/Handout via Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777415” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] An unmanned Antares rocket is seen exploding seconds after lift off from a commercial launch pad in this still image from NASA video at Wallops Island, Virginia October 28, 2014. The 14-story rocket, built and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp, bolted off its seaside launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility at 6:22 p.m. EDT/2222 GMT. It exploded seconds later. The cause of the accident was not immediately available. Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777417” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The accident at Orbital Sciences Corp.’s launch complex at Wallops Island was sure to draw criticism over the space agency’s growing reliance on private US companies in this post-shuttle effort: Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777407” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Orbital Sciences Corp. completes a final cargo load of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft in preparation for launch at the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, as seen in this handout photo from NASA: Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777409” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The Orb-3 mission’s payload fairing (the casing around the spacecraft) is installed on Orbital Sciences Corp.?s Antares rocket on the evening of October 23, 2014, at the Horizontal Integration Facility at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, as seen in this handout photo from NASA. An unmanned Antares rocket exploded seconds after liftoff from a commercial launch pad in Virginia on Tuesday, marking the first accident since NASA turned to private operators to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, but officials said no one was hurt: Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777421” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo spacecraft are prepared for launch at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia: Reuters[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_1777423” align=“alignleft” width=“940”] The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, seen on the launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in this October 26, 2014 NASA handout photo[/caption]